A Journey of Kings
by BloodKills-Matt
Summary: A story of 2 brothers going on the adventure to end all adventures.
1. Prologue

A Journey of Kings

Prologue

Hello everyone, I know you must be wondering why I haven't updated A Tale of Love and Adventure in a while, and what this new story is. Well I'd just like to apologize for that, I've been very busy over the summer with trips, my job, and the fact that my grandfather had some liver failure. Unfortunately, I have also lost interest in the story for the simple fact that I thought the story idea to make a new character, and then merge two stories together was interesting, but it didn't really work out, so while it was fun to come up with and write, it turned out pretty bad.

Anyway, I've decided to make this new story with the same character, 'Atticus D. Kazumi', but this time, no merger of stories, and it will be relatively the same same backstory, with some minor tweaks (Although, how he kills the Celestial Dragon will change, and it'll be because of what he does to Sabo, and Sabo will be presumed dead, because I have a cool idea for how to bring him back, and it'll be before the timeskip), but I'm gonna flesh it out and explain it fully hopefully chapter by chapter. I'm gonna do this story for the entire series up to the point it's at. I'll try to make the story work with a semi-overpowered character in the East Blue and Paradise, yet still have him be a main player. Anyway I hope you guys don't mind to much, but I honestly think I could have done a lot better with the idea than I did.

I'll keep the original story up, as well as that one god awful story I did for the Sabaody arc. (Which will not happen in this story, although I do have an idea on how to make better)

I'm gonna start with what happened with Luffy and Kazumi after their mother was murdered, then move onto the events of the romance dawn flashback and the post war arc till we get to the start of the series were Luffy and Kazumi set out from Foosha village. Luffy will be slightly stronger than he was originally, with **very** sporadic haki in **very** small doses, so don't expect him to sweep the floor with Crocodile, it's still gonna be a pretty damn hard battle for Luffy.

I also had someone ask me what exactly Kazumi's powers are, since it seemed like I was pulling his powers out of my ass, which is basically what happened, but this time I have set guidelines for it, I do need some progression in this story, so I'll only tell you the basic powers, and leave the explanations for special attacks for when he comes up with them, or learns how to use it. Also, haki will work the same way in the theory I talked about.

Superhuman Abilities: Geppo and Soru

Personal Power: Kazumi has the power to pull from his own spirit, turning his hair white, and creating a blast of pure energy. If haki is added, he can control where it goes, and how big the blast is (Like his Holy Fireball attack). Post-Timeskip it will be more powerful.

Haki: Basic knowledge of the 3 types of haki after training with Shanks.

Anger: When angered enough, Kazumi's hair will turn red, quadrupling his power, putting immense strain on his body. He can only hold this form for a maximum of 3 minutes. Afterwards, he can barely move, making him a ragdoll. He needs a full 24 hours to recover, which takes 2 years off his lifespan.

Hope you guys enjoy the new story (And the new name), it should be up within the hour.


	2. A new Life

A Journey of Kings

Chapter 1

(Chapters: Pre-Story-1)

It was a calm, warm summer day out on the grand line. Sun shining, light breeze and not to many waves. The hero of the marines, Monkey D. Garp was out on the sea with his battleship searching for a small fishing boat. He had heard that his son's wife had been killed, leaving 2 small children stranded and orphaned.

He had been out searching for a week now at this point, ever since he got the information from his friend Sengoku. He was starting to worry about the boys well being, being stranded for so long without any help.

A few hours later, one of Garp's lookouts spotted the boat. He immediately called for all the men to help bring the boat on board.

As soon as the boat had been hoisted up, Garp was going into the small cabin to find the boys. What he found saddened him. It was the two little boys. One a 4 year old boy holding a baby who looked no older than a couple months. They were starved and 4 year old was hiding the baby in his arms protecting him from all the people.

Garp approached the boys slowly and calmly. He took a seat a couple feet from them and spoke softly. "Hello, my names Garp." There was a slight pause before Garp spoke again. "I'm your grandfather."

The small boy relaxed slightly, before speaking with a raspy voice. "M-onk-ey D. G-Gar-p?"

Garp looked slightly confused before smiling and speaking louder than before. "Yup, that's me." He said before chuckling lightly.

"M-my mommy t-told me about you." The boy said back before coughing. "S-she said y-you would take care of us." He said before relaxing completely.

Garp was left speechless. He never thought the woman who hated everything he stood for, would entrust her children to him.

There was a few second with no sound, before the baby in the boys arms started to giggle. Garp noticed his smile and asked the young boy. "What are your names, if you don't mind me asking?"

The boys raspy voice was starting to get cleaner. "His name is Monkey D. Luffy, and mine is Atticus D. Kazumi."

Garp looked at them with pride. "Great names for great boys." He said before standing up and offering his hand to the boy. "You two looked starved, how about we go get some food and water for you, then we can give you some clean clothes and nice bed to rest in for the night."

With the mention of food, the baby's stomach growled as he giggles again. "Looks like someone's got their priorities in check, Bwahahahaha!"

Kazumi laughed slightly, before following Garp. He took a step out of the cabin, and saw all the marines on the boat. Kazumi's heart dropped before he took a couple steps back.

Garp looked to Kazumi and lifted an eyebrow up, before kneeling down and looking at the boy. "Is everything alright?" Kazumi looked at him with horror. "What's with all the white suit people?" He then spoke quieter. "Have you been captured?"

Garp sighed, and spoke softly to Kazumi. "What happened to you and Luffy?" Kazumi leaned over to Garp and whispered. "A week ago, mommy took me and Luffy to go meet someone on an island called… Umm, I think she said Mamario?" He said looking at Garp for confirmation."Momoiro" Garp replied.

"Yeah that place. We were going there for her to meet someone, I don't know who, but she said that he was important. She had me and Luffy stay with these ladies who were really nice. She came back a few hours later and told us we needed to leave, so we got ready and left." Kazumi started to look more depressed as he went on.

"That's when the white suit people came. We almost got away from them, but this huge man jumped on board. He looked weird, he had spikey white hair and beard, and his face was like a deformed oval." Garp flinched at the mention of that man. "Mommy, gave Luffy to me, and told us to hide under the bed, so that's what I did. I waited until I couldn't hear anyone else onboard, then I went out on deck. I saw mom's bloody and dead body sprawled out in a pool of her own blood." He started to get teary eyed. "I didn't know what to do, so I got on the lifeboat, and now we're here."

Garp looked as Kazumi and felt guilty. He had dedicated his life to the marines, and knew they did some questionable thing, but he still felt guilty for the boys getting caught up in it. They had not done anything to deserve what happened. Garp understood that it would take many years to forgive what happened, but he would train them to become marines, and hide their identities, just as he did with the son of the Pirate king Gol D. Roger. He would train them for themselves to begin with, and wait for even the slightest hint of forgiveness of what happened before bringing up joining the marines.

Garp decided it would be best if his crew were to stay out of the way of the boys, so he had them avoid the kitchen, and not step foot in it unless it was as absolute emergency.

He took the boys to the kitchen to get some food, as they look sickly from a week without food. What he didn't expect, was Kazumi being able to eat as much as 2 full grown men, and Luffy being able to eat solid foods at 2 months old. He felt embarrassed for not expecting it, they were his grandchildren after all.

After the boys finished, they fell asleep at the table. Garp looked at them with a happy face, but with a hidden sadness. He brought the boys to his bedroom and laid them to rest.

Garp had his crew change course to Foosha Village on Dawn Island in the East Blue. His hometown, and the place they would grow up.

Garp's right hand man Bogard came up to him with a report. "Sir, you have a call from Admiral Sengoku."

"Thank you Bogard. Will you look after the boys while I'm gone? Take off your marine coat and make sure no one else enters the room. If they ask where I am, just tell them I'm getting some food." Garp said before he walked away. "Understood sir." Bogard replied, before taking his coat off and entering the room.

In the office, Garp picked up the transponder snail. "Vice Admiral Garp speaking." A deep, yet calming voice spoke back. "How are you Garp? Have you found the boys yet?" Garp got a smile on his face. "Yes I did old pal, and they're just as I expected, Bwahahahaha!" The transponder snail smiled back. "I'm happy for you Garp. After I heard what Kong did, I knew I should contact you. I'm glad you found them, I was worried." Garp got a look of sadness on his face. "The boys will heal, but the oldest, Kazumi, has been scarred deep, I can see it in his eyes. I'm taking them to Foosha Village. Tell Kong I'm taking a bit of time off for myself, but don't mention the kids." Sengoku smiled back. "Sure thing, but make sure you leave no trace that those boys were there. If someone finds out who they are, the government will order their immediate execution." Garp smiled again. "Don't worry, they'll become great marines someday, Bwahahahaha!" He laughed before hanging up.

A few days later, they arrived at a small port town called Foosha. Garp walked the boys down the ramp where the mayor Woopslap, and a young girl named Makino were waiting for them.

"Hey you two, how've you been?" Garp said while waving at them. "Oh you know, small town stuff." Makino said back

"Well, here are the boys I called you about. The older one is Atticus D. Kazumi, and the boy asleep in his arms is Monkey D. Luffy." Garp said while smiling

Makino kneeled down to be eye level with Kazumi. "Well hello there Kazumi, my names Makino." She said with a kind voice. Kazumi took a second to respond. "Hello Miss Makino."

"The mayor and I would be more than happy to care for you both" Makino said with another smile

Kazumi started to silently cry with a smile on his face. "Thank you." He said in a whisper

About an hour later after Garp treated Kazumi and Luffy to some Lunch, he brought Kazumi to look around town while Makino put Luffy to sleep for a nap.

While they were walking around, Garp kept a smile on his face as to keep Kazumi as calm as he could be.

"So, how are you enjoying Foosha little buddy?" Garp asked. "It seems nice. Kind people, nice view of the port." Kazumi said with an emotionless face.

Garp got a nervous smile. "So.. um.. I was wondering what you'd think about doing some training. Maybe it'll help you release some anger."

Kazumi stopped dead in his tracks and look up at Garp. He looked like he was about to cry, but before it seemed like he was gonna, Garp saw one of the most innocent smile he's ever seen. "I think that'd be fun."

A few hours later, with the forest forest missing a few trees, Garp and Kazumi returned to their new house. "Oh hello there you two, how was your stroll?" Makino said with a giggling Luffy in her arms.

Kazumi smiled at Garp, then looked back to Makino. "It was really fun."

"Well that's good. Your brother is such a sweetheart, but he has an insane appetite."

Kazumi laughed slightly. "Of course, he's my little brother."

For the next few weeks, Garp and Kazumi would go out and train while Makino would take care of Luffy. But the time came when Garp had to leave, as he couldn't neglect his duties anymore.

"I'll be back in a few month kiddo, keep training, you've got decent strength, but your accuracy sucks, Bwahahahaha!" Garp said while giving the boy a hug. After they broke the hug, Garp gave the giggling Luffy a pat on the head.

"Don't worry gramps, I'll be way stronger when you come back!" Kazumi said with an unbreakable smile.

"I bet you will Kazumi. Until we meet again." He said while walking away to his ship.

Over the next few years, Garp would come back to Foosha every few months and train Kazumi, and when Luffy was old enough, he joined in too. They also decided to build a garden so that the boys could eat if they ran out of money when Garp was gone longer than expected.

From their training, Kazumi learned the shave technique, and Luffy gained enough muscle, that his punch had the power of a pistol.

Everything was good, but then Garp got a call from his friend Sengoku, telling him that he would need to come back to marineford for a year or so, since he'd been promoted to Fleet Admiral, and they needed Garp there to keep morale up. The boys bid farewell to their Gramps, and went back to training.

A few months later, a pirate ship showed up at the port, but not just any pirate ship,it was the ship of one of the 4 most powerful pirates on the seas. The Emperor Red Haired Shanks.

At first, the villagers were scared, but after a couple weeks, they learned that the pirates were a kind, yet rowdy bunch. The two brothers seemed to get along well with the pirates. They would tell the boys stories about being out on the seas, as well as Luffy's favorite story. The one about the pirate king, Gol D. Roger.

A few months into the pirates stay, Kazumi went up to the leader Shanks to ask him something. "Yo, Shanks, mind if I bug you for a little bit?" Shanks finished his swig of sake and smiled at the 11 year old boy. "Sure pal, what's on your mind?" Kazumi returned the smile. "Well, as you know, Luffy really likes you and your crew, evident by the numerous times that he's asked to join your crew, so I was wondering if you guys would like to come to our birthday feast, as a surprise for Luffy."

Shanks looked at the kid and laughed. "Of course we would! Birthdays are a time of celebration. Although, I didn't know you guys shared a birthday, I mean, you're 4 years older than him. Was it luck?"

Kazumi sighed. "Well, you see, MY birthday is next week on June 13th, and Luffy's birthday was last month on May 5th, but ever since Makino told him about my birthday being on the day of feasts a couple years ago, he's wanted us to share a birthday."

Shanks burst out laughing. "Of course that anchor would think of something so stupid." Kazumi chuckled slightly as well. "Well, you know Luffy."

Shanks stopped laughing and took another swig. "So, what are you planning on having for your feast?" Kazumi smiled and told him about all the stuff he was gonna do. "Well I've been stockpiling meat I've caught the past two weeks in the back of the bar so he doesn't find out, and I've been tending to our garden to get only the freshest vegetables. Makino's gonna help me cook his favourite. Potato wedge stuffed boar, with a gravy made from the juices of the meat, mixed with some ground up carrot." Kazumi then pulled out a small package and got closer to Shanks. "I also got him this for a present." Shanks saw a small cupcake in the package. "We've never really had much money, so he's never gotten to try anything sweet besides fruits, so I saved up all the money I could get from helping people around town, and bought him the most expensive cupcake from the bakery."

Kazumi then looked up to see Shanks smiling a wide as he could. "Damn kiddo, I don't think anyone could ask for a better brother." Kazumi then smiled back, but with a sadness hidden behind it. "I'd do anything for him. Even take a sword through the chest if it meant he'd be ok."

The next week, everything went out as planned. Shanks and the red haired pirates showed up, making Luffy really happy. They ate the feast, and had a great time, dancing around the fire and singing pirate songs. Then when it came time for Luffy and Kazumi to exchange presents, Luffy insisted he'd go first. "Here you go Kuzu." Luffy then handed him a package that was obviously wrapped by Makino. Kazumi cringed at the nickname his little brother had given him, while the pirates snickered quietly. He opened the package to see a black trench sweater. Kazumi got a small tear in his eye and hugged Luffy. "Thanks Lu, I love it."

He put it on and modeled it off for everyone to see, just as Makino was joining the party. "I told you he'd look good in it Luffy, and I see it fits perfectly." She said with a wink. "He looks like a pirate!" Luffy said with his fist in the air, and a smile on his face. Kazumi smiled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess I kinda do." Makino then walked up to Kazumi and knelt down. "A package arrived for you last night, but with no name other than yours on it, I left it for tonight incase it's a gift from Garp."

Kazumi took the package and put it down beside him. "I'll open it later, but now it's time for Luffy's present." He said walking over to a tree stump, and took out the small box he had hidden earlier. "I really hope you enjoy Luffy, it took awhile to scrounge up enough money to buy it for you."

Luffy opened up the package and got a confused look on his face. "Whats this?" Kazumi chuckled a bit. "It's called a cupcake, it's food." Before Kazumi could say anything more, Luffy had already stuffed the entire thing in his mouth. Kazumi and the pirates burst out laughing. Luffy took a few seconds to finish it, but after he swallowed, there was a brief moment of silence before Luffy started to smile. "It taste like that taste that you said apples have, just a lot better." Everyone let out a cheer "I knew you'd love it Lu." Kazumi said giving Luffy another hug.

An hour later as the party was dying down, Kazumi decided to open up the package that Makino had brought him. Shanks and his men were intrigued, but Luffy was ecstatic. "I wonder what kind of awesome present Gramps sent you Kuzu." Kazumi cringed again. "Luffy, please stop calling me that, it doesn't sound cool." He said with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway, there's a note, and a combat knife in here." Kazumi took the knife out, and showed everyone. Shanks and Ben Beckman both got a look of intense fascination on their faces. Kazumi gave the knife to Shanks for him to see, unfolded the note and started reading. "It says. Hello Kazumi, and happy birthday. I know you don't know me, but I was a friend of your mother's, in fact, I was the man she came to see the day that she was killed. I know you've probably forgotten by now, but I used to visit you guys when you were no older than 3, but anyway, nostalgia aside, I thought you should have this. It's a black blade called 'Eternal Peace', it's one of the 13 Supreme Grade blades, and it belonged to your mother. I think it would fit you nicely. When you gain enough strength, it should easily allow you to send flying blade attacks, and it won't chip unless it's up against another Supreme grade blade. When you learn armament haki, it should become an ultimate defensive, and reflexive attacking weapon. I bid you good times, and I hope you and Luffy grow up to be strong men. Remember to follow your own beliefs to the end, the day we meet will come soon enough."

Kazumi paused for a second and looked confused. "It's signed by someone named Dragon, but that's all it says, just, Dragon." Kazumi looked up to Makino. "Dragons can write letters?" Shanks and his crew laughed at this. "No kid, the guys name is Dragon. He's a revolutionary." Shanks said with a roll of his eyes. Kazumi smiled. "Cool. I think I remember him a little, but only brief flashes of his face."

Shanks and Ben discussed something before Kazumi spoke up. "You think I could get my mothers knife back Shanks?" The two broke their conversation and Shanks looked down at his hand and chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that kiddo, I forgot I had it in my hand, here you go." He said, handing Kazumi the blade. Kazumi swung the blade a few times, getting a feel for it. "It feels so natural, like it's meant for me."

"That's how blades work bud, one style may feel different than another, it's why trained swordsman are so revered. The blade you hold is especially rare. It's the highest class of blade, one made by an absolute master blacksmith, long gone from our world." Lucky Roo said while chomping down on a piece of meat.

Shanks got a little serious. "Hey, Kazumi, I'd highly recommend hiding that blade until you're a bit older. There are people out there who wouldn't think twice about killing a kid for such a rare and expensive blade. Learn to use it, and hone the power of it before you use it in a serious fight. Not only for the risk of losing it. But for the safety of yourself incase you can't control the strength it takes to use its full potential." Kazumi looked at Shanks with determination in his eyes "I'll master it, and use it to avenge our mother." he looked at Luffy, who smiled back at him

After the party died, the only people still left awake, were Kazumi, Shanks, Ben and Yassop. "Hey Shanks, would you be ok with teaching me a few techniques for my blade sometime? I'd also like to know what the flying blade attack and armament things that Dragon talked about." Shanks looked to his crew members and then back to Kazumi. "Sure bud, I think it'd be pretty shitty of me to tell you to train, and not teach you a couple of things myself. But you'll have to wait until we return from our next trip." Kazumi looked to him and smiled. "I don't mind waiting at all, I mean, me and Luffy go months without seeing our gramps, so waiting a week or two is nothing."

The next few months were spent training Kazumi with his knife, and armament haki. By the 5th month, Kazumi could send out enough armament to cover just the edge of the blade, but it was pathetically weak. He also learned how to deflect oncoming attacks without a second thought, and could send out a wind blast that did no actual damage, but would scare away any regular civilian.

"You have a long way to go kid, but you've got insane potential." Ben said while they were at Makino's bar having lunch. "Thanks man, that means alot to me. By the way, do you know where Luffy ran off too?" Ben looked around the bar. "Well, if him and Shanks aren't here, I'd assume they'd be on the ship." He said lighting a cigarette. "I guess that makes sense. Well, it's been fun for today, but I'm gonna go check on him before he does something stupid."

As on queue, Shanks was rushing an injured Luffy into the bar for Makino to heal. The boy had stabbed himself under his left eye to prove he was strong enough to become a pirate.

After Makino patched him up, he was sitting at the bar. "What were you thinking Luffy, I know you wanna show that you're strong, but there are other ways to do that than stabbing yourself in the eye. You can't be that stupid!" Kazumi said in a stern voice. "HAHAHA! Look, even your brother thinks so!" Shanks said while laughing his head off.

Luffy looked at both of them with silent tears in his eyes. "It didn't hurt one bit!" Both Shanks and Kazumi yelled at him "LIAR! Just don't do anything so stupid again!"

Luffy then quit his crying and smiled wide. "I'm not afraid of pain at all! Next time bring me out to sea! I want to be a pirate too!"

Shanks and Kazumi gave each other a look before Shanks started to respond. "You can't handle being a pirate! Not being able to swim is a pirates greatest weakness." Kazumi chuckled at that. Luffy started to get angry "As long as I stay onboard, I'll be fine. All that matters is how good my fighting is, and gramps has rigorously trained us, so my punch is a strong as a pistol!"

Shanks looked unimpressed. "A pistol… wooow." Luffy yelled back "WHAT KIND OF TONE IS THAT!?" Kazumi laughed at that. "Well Shanks, I mean, he's not lying. Gramps is the one who told him that, and I haven't heard him shut up about it for the past 2 years." Shanks smiled back "Ah, I know, I'm just teasing him." he said while rubbing the boys head. Luffy was still having a fit and turned away.

"Well, I should probably go check on our garden though, haven't watered the crops in a week. Look after Luffy for me, make sure he doesn't get into any alcohol." Kazumi said while waving goodbye to the crew. "Make sure he gets enough to eat as well.", he said as he left the bar. He heard some laughter and singing on his way out.

On his way up the road, he noticed a group of men walking around, with an ugly looking guy leading them. Kazumi thought nothing of them, just thinking they were a group of friends having some fun.

As Kazumi was watering the plants in the forest, he heard his brother yelling and decided to rush back to the bar. When he came in the door, all he saw was Shanks cleaning up some glass, and a furious Luffy stress eating.

"What the hell happened? I heard Luffy scream, is everything alright?" Kazumi said a little out of breath. Shanks spoke up. "A group of guys came in and made a little mess, I just helping Makino clean up." Kazumi calmed down a little, but then got confused. "Yeah, that makes sense. But why did Luffy scream?" Luffy got up and stick his tongue out at Shanks before talking with an angry voice. "He was disgraceful, and let that man make fun of him without fighting back!" Kazumi looked to Shanks, and then back to Luffy. "That's it?" he said with a raised eyebrow "GOD! YOU ALL DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Luffy said yelling, and tried to storm out. But before he could, Shanks grabbed his arm. "Come on, don't go Luffy…" "I DON'T WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN COWARD!" He said while trying to walk away. All would have seemed normal, if it wasn't for Luffy's arm stretching.

Kazumi looked on in horror. "WHY THE HELL IS MY BROTHERS ARM STRETCHING!?" Shanks and the rest of the crew got a look of shock and concern on their face. "It's gone, the gum gum fruit is gone." said Lucky Roo, looking inside a small chest on the counter. "WHAT THE HELL IS A GUM GUM FRUIT, AND WHY IS MY BROTHERS ARM STRETCHING!? Kazumi yelled, emphasizing his point once again.

Shanks explained everything while the two brothers calmed down. Kazumi looked at Luffy and gave him a light tap on the head for eating stuff without permission, then turned to Shanks and clonked him over the head. "Why would you leave that out in the open, unlocked, and in reach of a kid who'd eat dirt if it looked appetizing? Now Luffy will never learn to swim, and I'd rather not think of what Gramps will do once he finds out" Shanks was rubbing his head while his crew members chuckled. "HAHAHAHA! You just got lectured by an 11 year old kid captain. How does it feel?" Yassop said holding his stomach. "Feels bad man." He said with his head down.

A while later, everything seemed fine, everything was going as normal. Kazumi was tending to the garden once again, while Luffy was having his third lunch at the bar with Makino. All was fine, until Kazumi heard his brother yell once again. He thought it was convenient that it happened while he was at the garden again, and decided that it was probably a dumb reason again, so he took his time walking back.

He was walking through town, and noticed that it was quite bare. No one was tending to their shops. No one was walking around. A rare site, but nothing too unusual, so he just kept on strolling back.

A few minutes later, he heard a gunshot. Kazumi's eyes widened, and he started to run towards the sound. He turned the corner, only to see Ben was smashing in some bandits faces.

"What the hell is going on here Shanks!?" Kazumi said in a panic. Shanks looked at the boy with wide eyes. "What are you doing here kid? This is no place for you at the moment." Kazumi then looked towards the bandit leader and saw his brothers face under his foot. At that moment, Kazumi got a look of rage in his eyes and drew his blade and sent his blade of wind at the bandit leader without a second thought.

He sheathed the blade in the leather scabbard he had attached to his right leg. "I'll give you one chance. Give my brother back, or I'll kill you." Kazumi said in an emotionless voice. Shanks and his crew looked taken back by the change in tone, and the dangerous aura coming off the kid. It was like he was someone completely different.

The bandit panicked, and threw a smoke bomb down, escaping towards to port. Kazumi somehow sensed where he was taking Luffy, and used the shave technique that Garp taught him. It wasn't anywhere near as fast as Garps, but it was quite a bit faster than his running speed. He caught up to the bandit who had taken Luffy into a small dingy, and was a fair distance from the shore. Kazumi didn't think twice, and jumped off the dock, and then, when he was about to hit the water, he jumped again, and again, and again, until he was on the dingy with the bandit.

Shanks and everyone looking was in pure shock. All they could think was 'Is this really the kid we've been hanging out with for the past year'.

Kazumi's hair then turned white as he cocked his fist, ready to punch the bandit. But before he could, the bandit slashed his sword at Kazumi,who just barely dodged it. Only getting a cut under his left eye. This enraged Kazumi even more. He unsheathed the knife, and slashed at the bandit, leaving him bleeding to death.

Kazumi's hair turned back to it's natural blonde, and he was back in his own sane mind, helping Luffy recover. But while that was happening, they heard a great growl, and a giant sea eel came out of the water. At this moment, Shanks came out of shock, and recognized the weight of the situation. He sprung into action, using his own moonwalk to reach the dingy. But before the eel could attack, Shanks heard Kazumi scream out. "DON'T TOUCH MY LITTLE BROTHER!" Shanks felt an immense wave of willpower that could only come from someone with conqueror's haki. He landed on the dingy and caught the boy before he collapsed.

When Kazumi came back to, in the bar, he was surrounded by the pirates, and his brother laying next to him. "What happened guys? WHy is everyone crowding?" Luffy shot up and hugged Kazumi while trying to suppress tears. "You're ok Kuzu. You're ok."

Kazumi hugged him back. "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Shanks and the crew then explained everything that happened after he went berserk. Kazumi started to remember some things.

"I don't know how, but I remember somehow sensing where he was taking Luffy without being able to see." Shanks smiled at him "That's called observation haki. It allows you to sense where an attack will come from before it comes for you." Kazumi got a look of realization. "So it's like another form of armament." Shanks thought for a second, "I mean, they're much different, but yeah, that's the basic jist."

They went on for about an hour talking about everything that happened, and how he'd learned the moonwalk technique. Kazumi also explain how Garp had taught him Shave, and how Luffy was learning it.

Once Luffy had gone to get some food, Shanks had everyone but Ben leave. He went on explaining how he was gonna stay an extra few months to teach Kazumi how to control his conquerors haki enough so that he didn't hurt anyone by using it by accident. He'd also be teaching him observation slightly."

After the couple months were done, and Kazumi had basic control over all 3 forms of haki. The Red Haired Pirates were getting ready to leave. "I'll sure miss you guys, it's been a lot of fun this past year." Kazumi said to Shanks as he was putting a barrel down. Shanks smiled at him. "It has been loads of fun, but it's been long enough, it's time for us to move on to greater seas." Kazumi smiled at this. "But listen kid, I want you to take this." Shanks handed a tungsten ring to Kazumi that had been on his middle finger. "This belonged to my old teacher, and I think It'd be safe in your hands. Passed down from master to apprentice once again." Kazumi smiled and put the ring in his sweater pocket. "Thanks Shanks. I'll keep it safe with me. It's too big for me right now, so I'll just wear it as a necklace."

At this point, Luffy got the courage to come say goodbye. "You're really leaving this time?" Shanks looked over the town. "Yup, We've stayed here long enough It's about time we move on. Are you upset?" Luffy then smiled. "Yea… but I won't force you to take me along anymore. I'll become a pirate by myself… with Kuzu's help of course."

Shanks laughed at this. "You sure he'd follow an anchor like you?" Shanks then looked to Kazumi for backup, but he got something else. Kazumi looked at him with determination. "Hell yeah I would. Like I said to you before, Red Hair. I'd take a sword through the chest for him. You think joining my idiotic little brothers pirate crew would be a no? Hell nah! I'd sail to the ends of the earths with him, beating up anyone who dares to get in the way of our glorious adventure." Shanks looked to Kazumi with shock, but it soon turned into a smile.

"You see that Shanks!" Luffy yelled "One day, we'll find a crew that is stronger than yours! Then, we'll find the biggest treasure in the world, and I'll become… THE KING OF THE PIRATES!" Luffy yelled, loud enough for the entire town to hear. Kazumi got the same look Luffy had, and smiled cockily at Shanks.

"Oh… So you want to be bigger than us, huh?... Well, in that case then. Take this hat. It's a gift from me to you. It's my favourite hat you know. When you become a great pirate in the future, return that hat to me, and then I'll know how far you've come." He said while walking away from the brothers.

Luffy was crying into the hat, while Kazumi was waving bye with a smirk on his face. "You know Luffy. We're gonna have to train much harder now that you've made your claim to the One Piece. Are you sure you're ready for that?" Kazumi said to his brother. "Oh who am I kidding. It's you, of course you're willing."

The brothers walked back to the bar arm in arm, talking about the future.

 **A/N: Well, I hope you like the first chapter of the new story. I know it sounds cheesy at some points, but I tried my hardest to make it make sense. I also know I'm gonna get a few people complaining about Kazumi learning haki this early, but don't worry, he's not gonna be that strong at all. Like as it stands right now, he can only dodge attacks from a slow target, so no dodging bullets for him. His armament is piss weak, as in, literally anyone else with haki could break through it. His conquerors is an exception though. It'll be a gradual evolution, but it's gonna start off at an intermediate level. He'll be able to knock people out, but not without some struggle, and how weak people get after his blast will depend on their own willpower compared to Kazumi's willpower at that very moment.**


	3. Gain and Loss

A Journey of Kings

Chapter 2

(Chapters 582-589)

 **Quick note: I've decided to get rid of the part with Porchemy, as I find that it just doesn't work with my story. I also decided to make Dragon both Luffy and Kazumi's father, just for the sole fact that I can't think of anything in regards to Kazumi's father, so from here on out, Luffy and Kazumi are full on biological brothers.**

"I told you gramps! I'm gonna be the pirate king!' Luffy said while being dragged along the path by his cheek. "Over my dead body! First you eat that devil fruit, now you won't stop going on about this ridiculous idea! You'll be the strongest marine. Same goes for you Kazumi."He said to the boy who was following reluctantly with an angry aura coming off of him. "Yeah, whatever traitor."

Garp looked back at Kazumi with a regretful expression. Kazumi was looking anywhere but at him. Luffy was growling at Garp, trying to hit him, and complaining. "Owwww! Darn it! If I'm rubber, how come this hurts!? Lemme go Gramps!" Garp kept on walking in silence. "It hurts because he's using haki Luffy." Kazumi said in a still angry, but calm voice.

A little while later, they arrived to a clearing in the forest that was occupied by a small hut. "Dadan! Get out here!" A hefty woman, a man that looked like a chicken, and a small man all came out to greet him. "G-Garp-san! Gimme a break already! Ace is already 10. I can't handle him much longer! Take him back!" The woman named Dadan said. "Hey traitor, what is this place?" Kazumi said with an intrigued face. "Yeah, gramps, what is this place? It looks fun." Luffy said before getting distracted by a butterfly.

"This is your new home boys." Garp said with a smile. "LIKE HELL IT IS!" The 3 people yelled. Garp gave them a glare. Kazumi then stepped forward and bowed slightly. "Thank you for letting us stay with you ma'am. Although please excuse me, I should probably go get Luffy before he falls off a cliff that came out of nowhere " He said before running off.

Dadan was taken back by the kids kindness. "Who's he?" she asked with a shocked face. Garp laughed. "Him and Luffy are my grandsons." Dadan and the two men yelled out in shock. "More!?" the short man named Dogra said. "All right then, make a choice. Would you rather spend the rest of your life behind bars, or raise those kids? I've overlooked as many crimes of yours as there are stars in the sky!" Dadan looked too her subordinates, then back to Garp. "Well, I don't want to be captured, but sometimes I think prison might be better than this. I've already got my hands full with Ace, and now you want me to raise TWO more kids. You're out of your mind!"

As the conversation between Garp and Dadan was happening, Kazumi was chasing Luffy around. "Come on Luffy, this is serious, you need to pay attention to the traitor, this is our new home whether we like it or not." Luffy was having none of this, and was still running around. Just as Luffy turned around a tree, Kazumi sensed an attack coming at Luffy and used shave to pull Luffy out of the fire range.

Kazumi turned his head to see a kid on the dead body of a giant boar, who had a angered look on his face. "Don't you know it's rude to spit at people?" Kazumi said to the kid who hopped off the boar. "Hey there Ace." Garp said turning his head. "Woah! Ace, you're back!" Dadan said. Luffy was getting up off the ground after Kazumi had jerked him back."What was that for?" Luffy said with an annoyed look on his face. "That kid spat at you, and I pulled you away so you wouldn't be hit." Luffy smiled. "Thanks Kuzu!" Kazumi cringed again, and flicked his brother in the back of the head with a small amount of haki to bypass his devil fruit. "Stop calling me that Luffy." The kid rubbed his head and looked suprised.

"So who's this Ace kid traitor?" Kazumi said walking back to the conversation. Garp pointed to the kid walking in the door. "That's Ace. He's a year younger than you. You and Luffy are gonna live with him from now on, so you'd better get along!" Dadan yelled back again. "It's already decided!?" Garp spoke in a voice that was even enough to get Kazumi to shiver. "What?" Dadan and the others felt their heart drop. "I'll take them!"

After they got settled in, Luffy started to complain. "I hate mountain bandits!" Dadan got annoyed with that remark, and was gonna speak up, but was interrupted by Kazumi. "Hey Luffy, stop complaining. I told you before, this is our home now, whether we like it or not. At least try to enjoy it, and don't be a brat, cause then I have to deal with it as well." Luffy thought for a second, then looked back and smiled. "Sure thing Kazumi." Dadan was annoyed she got interrupted, but gained a little respect for the 11 year old.

When dinner was served, it was a madhouse. Meat flying everywhere. Everyone fighting for even 1 piece. Kazumi managed to get two pieces of it for Luffy and him to eat. After finishing it rather quickly, Luffy started to complain again. "This is too little, I want more." Kazumi flicked him in the back of the head again. "I thought I told you to stop complaining. If you want more, we can go out and get some ourselves." Dadan snickered at this. She knew how strong Ace was from living out here with them for his entire life. What could two kids raised in a nice calm town do to even a fox.

"You two will have a lot of work tomorrow! You will clean, do the laundry, polish our shoes and weapons! As well as rob, steal, swindle and murder people! And you better not tell Garp what you're doing here!" Dadan said ranting on. "Why would I tell that traitor what were doing? He'd just go on about us joining the organization that killed our mother." Kazumi said with an angered face. Luffy just agreed with Kazumi. "Any...way. I can only ever guarantee you 1 glass of water and a bowl of rice a night. Anything else, you have to get on your own." Dadan said with a smirk. Luffy and Kazumi just kinda nodded and said "OK". Dadan yelled back. "You agree!? You were supposed to cry!" She said with her head smashed against the ground.

"That traitor trained us in the jungle our whole lives. We can hunt for ourselves. We can garden, and we can cook." Kazumi said with a look of pride on his face. "Yeah, and if we're gonna be pirates, then we have to fend for ourselves." Luffy said with a smile on his face.

Luffy then got distracted, and saw ace leaving. So he got up and started to follow him. Dadan got annoyed. "Wait, where are you going?!... Did you just say pirates!?" Kazumi chuckled at this and got up to follow him. "This is how he is, get used to it, he does his own thing, and then I have to deal with the consequences. I'll keep him at bay for you guys. You all seem nice." He said with a smile before walking out the door. Dadan looked shocked, she whispered just loud enough for the others to hear it. "Dammit Garp, why me? Ace is trouble, that Luffy kid has a 2 second attention span, and then the other kid is just too damn nice. I'm gonna regret this one day, aren't I."

Kazumi looked to where Luffy was screaming at Ace. "HEY! I"M LUFFY! Let's be friends!" He said with a big smile on his face. Kazumi smiled and walked up next to him, only to see the Ace kid kick a tree down, which started to roll towards them. Kazumi noted this, and unsheathed his knife, and cut the tree in half right before it could hit them. "THE HELL WAS THAT FOR JACKASS!?" Kazumi yelled at the kid who had a shocked looked on his face. Ace decided to book it. Luffy tried to follow, but Kazumi stopped him. "Luffy, no, it's quite obvious that he doesn't want to see us. Let's just go to our garden and pack everything up so we can make a new one here." Luffy looked at Kazumi, then to the tree that he had cut, and then back to Kazumi before nodding and started walking towards the garden.

It took them a couple hours to get there. They went to the bar to ask Makino for some help, and some juice. They made it back to the bandit hut, and told Dadan what they were gonna do, and she just brushed it off and agreed.

A few months later, the garden was back to its regular green look. Luffy kept trying to befriend Ace, but kept failing. One time, Kazumi followed Luffy for the hell of it, as he didn't have anything better to do. He'd cleaned the hut, tended to the garden. Polished all the weapons, and built a new outhouse.

They were walking around following Ace. Kazumi sensed him in the tree, but decided to let Luffy find Ace on his own, since it was Luffy who wanted to be Ace's friend. Just as Luffy was gonna give up for the day. It started to rain, and a giant tiger stepped out of the jungle brush. Kazumi freaked out and grabbed Luffy and used shave to get out of the place as fast as possible. That was the last straw for Kazumi. His brother went out everyday, and came back looking like he'd gone through a woodchipper each time. After that, he wasn't letting Luffy go out on his own ever again.

Another couple months passed of them trying to catch Ace. One day, they reached the end of the forest, and the beginning of a place called Grey Terminal. They walked around, seeing if they could Spot Ace. They saw him knock a guy out, and steal his stuff. Luffy wanted to rush after Ace, but Kazumi stopped him and told Luffy that they should be sneaky about it, and follow him quietly. Luffy just shrugged this off and followed Kazumi's plan.

They caught up to the boy, only to see him in a tree with a blonde kid. They were talking about money that they had stolen. The brothers listened for a few minutes, before the blonde kid started talking about a pirate ship. Luffy instantly jumped out of the bushes and started yelling up to the kids. "Pirate ship!? You guys want to be pirates!? Us too!" Kazumi walked out of the bush with an annoyed look, and clocked Luffy on the head without haki. "Why can't you just shut your mouth for once Luffy." He then turned to the boys. "Just ignore what he said. He's not supposed to blurt that stuff out to anyone." Ace and the blonde kid looked to each other, before the blonde one spoke up. "Is this the prissy brat you were talking about?" Ace looked to the shocked Kazumi. "Yeah." Kazumi got an angry look and started to yell. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN PRISSY!?"

The two boys tried to tie the other two up. But Kazumi overpowered them, and tied them up. "Aw man, I thought we would have had him two on one." The blonde kid whined. Ace just glared at Kazumi. "That's what you get for trying to attack me. And you." He said pointing to Ace. "Stop trying to kill my brother, you goddamn psycho." Ace continued to glare.

Kazumi sighed. "I'll give you two questions each. Then you're gonna answer two of my questions." Sabo looked to Ace, who continued to glare. "Let's do what he says." Ace looked to Sabo and sighed. "Fine." Kazumi smiled. "That's the spirit. Now, I'll let Sabo start." Sabo thought for a second. "Well, who are you exactly?" Kazumi replied with pride. "My name, is Atticus D. Kazumi, and I am 11. I'm brothers with Luffy over there." He said, pointing to the kid he had distracted by cooking some boar for him to eat.

Sabo thought for another second, before asking his next question. "Why are you and Luffy living with Ace?" Kazumi got an angry look. "Because that shitty traitor dropped us off there, after Luffy started talking about wanting to be a pirate." Ace then spoke up. "My turn. Why do you call Garp, Traitor?" Kazumi then got an even angrier look, with a sadness in his eye. "Because he keeps trying to get me and Luffy to agree to join the very organization that killed our mother. After years of tricking us into thinking he was training us to defend ourselves." Kazumi finished with a scoff.

Ace looked like he was deep in thought for a second, before asking his final question. "Do you… Want me to live?" Kazumi was kind of shocked that Ace would ask a question like that. "Why wouldn't I? I can feel the hate, and resentment flowing off of you. Your aura is quite strong. Something obviously happened to make you like this, so that's the only reason I haven't killed you yet. If you were anyone else I would have killed you the first time you hit my brother." Ace looked very taken aback by this. Kazumi then sighed. "Now it's time for my questions. "You, blonde kid, what's your name?" Sabo got an annoyed look on his face. "Why should I tell you?" Kazumi then chuckled. "Fair enough, but we made a deal, and I'm not letting you go until you answer, so you don't have too, but you won't get untied." Sabo looked shocked. "Fine. My name is Sabo."

Kazumi smiled at this."Now, was that too hard?" He then looked to Ace. "Now, my last question. Why do you hate the world? What has it done to you?" Ace got really angry at this question. "WHAT DOES IT MATTER TO YOU!?" Kazumi frowned. "It matters to me, because I'd rather not kill you, when you inevitably hurt my brother." He said releasing a small amount of Conquerors haki. Ace felt fear from the force that hit him, and decided to comply. He told Kazumi about his upbringing, and how he was the son of the pirate king Gol D. Roger. About how everyone despised him without even knowing he existed. Kazumi cut them loose, and hugged Ace. "You seem nice deep inside. Me and Luffy would never judge you for who your father is. Hell, we don't even know who our father is, and our mother was murdered, so all we've got left is that traitorous grandfather, the bandits, and you." Ace started to tear up. "I see…. But I hate spoiled brats like Luffy." Kazumi laughed at that, before rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, sorry, that'd be my fault. I've spoiled him since he was a baby." Luffy then yelled back at them. "I'm not spoiled, I'm strong!"

Kazumi chucked a piece of meat down the path while they were walking back to the hut. "Fetch." He said, trying to prove a point. Luffy chased after it, and ate it in a couple of bites. "You're spoiled Luffy." Kazumi said chuckling. Luffy got angry, and started ranting."I'm gonna be stronger than everyone! I promised Shanks I'm gonna be the greatest pirate ever!" Ace snickered. "You. A pirate? Please." Luffy started to growl. Kazumi and Sabo were laughing. "Hey, by the way. We have another problem. The amount of money you stole was pretty big Ace. I've always lived in Grey Terminal, but we're probably gonna have people looking for us way more now. They're gonna want us dead." Kazumi understood what Sabo meant.

They all got woken up by Dadan screaming in the morning. "WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS!? ACE! LUFFY! KAZUMI! WHO'S THIS!? WHY IS THERE ANOTHER BRAT HERE!?" Sabo got up and shook Dadans hand. "Hey! You're Dadan right? I'm Sabo."

"SABO!? I know that name! I heard you're a real little shit." Sabo smiled and replied. "Really? Well I've heard that you're a real bitch!" Dadan got really angry "WHERE'D YOU HEAR THAT YOU LITTLE BRAT!?" After Kazumi explain what the risks of Sabo staying at grey terminal were, Dadan reluctantly agreed to let him stay there.

The boys started to train together. 150 matches a day each, is what they settled on. After a few hours the last match was happening between Ace and Luffy. "GOMU GOMU NO… PIST-GAH!" Luffy screamed out before wailing himself in the face with his own punch for the 150th time. Ace looked annoyed. "I told you it wouldn't work again." He said dodging Luffy as he rolled past him. "What the hell are you even trying to do anyway?" he asked while kicking Luffy's face in.

Sabo tallied up the scores while Luffy and Ace were bickering. "Ace wins again." Kazumi came back out of some brush after going to take a leak. "Let me guess. Luffy got his ass kicked again." Sabo chuckled while Ace smirked. "What did you think was gonna happen?" Sabo clapped. "Well done to us. The final scores are, Kazumi with a flawless victory, beating all 3 of us 50 times each. Luffy lost all his matches, and Ace beat me 26-24 in our matches. Damn, so close." Luffy started to complain again. "No fair! When I'm 10, I'm gonna kick all your butts!." Ace scoffed at this and picked up his pipe ready to walk away. "But then we'll be 13 then, come on let's go get dinner" Kazumi chuckled. "You mean, you and Sabo will be 13. You keep forgetting that I'm a year older than you guys." Ace blushed. "Yeah yeah, whatever."

The boys made there way to the river to hunt some gators. "Want me to catch them so we can eat faster?" Kazumi asked, taking his knife out of its sheath. All three boys stomachs growled at the same time like they were on a timer. "Sure." they said.

Kazumi cut a couple gators up. Him and the two other boys who could swim, got them out of the water, and they carried them back to the bandit hideout. Dadan cooked them up with some help from Kazumi. They ate and went to bed.

The next day, the 3 younger boys stood up on each others shoulders and hid under a cloak, while Kazumi walked near them with his own cloak since he was too tall to join them under their's. They turned a corner while walking through the outskirts, and they got ambushed by some thugs, thinking the cloaked man and child were weak. They revealed themselves, and beat the thugs up. They arrived at central town and sold the gator skins.

A while later, after a dine and dash, someone started calling out Sabo's name. "Hey Sabo, someone's calling you." Kazumi and Ace said. "Who's that..?" Luffy said while still stuffing his face. Sabo got a terrified look on his face. "...He's mistaken me for someone else. Let's go!" Kazumi and Ace looked at each other with uncertainty.

When they got back to the forest, Kazumi and Ace decided to question Sabo. "Who was that, and why are you so scared of him?" Kazumi asked. "Yeah, and why was he telling you to 'come back'?" Ace replied. "What are you hiding." They both said.

"What? I'm not hiding anything!" Sabo said while sweating. "Oh… Really?" Luffy said seriously. "I won't fall for that! Spit it out!" Ace raised his voice. "Look, we can't keep secrets from each other Sabo. You know about all of us, but we don't know anything about you. I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask who that man was." Kazumi said trying to reason with Sabo. Ace nodded at that. "Do you really think there should be any secrets between us?" They then all said in an intimidating voice. "Spit it out!"

It took a minute, and Ace threatening to strangle him to get Sabo to confess. "I'm the son of a noble." He said with a depressed look. "So?" The other three said simultaneously. "YOU'RE THE ONES WHO ASKED!" Sabo said with shark teeth. "Look, Sabo." Kazumi said in a calm voice. "You were there when I told Ace that we didn't care who his parents were, so what makes you think we would care who your parents are?" Sabo looked taken aback by this. "Yeah… I guess you're right. The truth is, I'm not an orphan and wasn't born in the dump, and that guy who tried to stop me, was my dad. I'm sorry I lied to you guys." Luffy and Kazumi smiled. "Well, you apologized." Luffy said "So all's forgiven!" Kazumi finished.

"It's all a bit of a shock." Ace said walking towards the seaside cliff. "But, if you were born a noble… How'd you end up in grey terminal?" Sabo looked at the three with a pain in his eye, and explained everything his parents did, and how they didn't really care for him, just for his status. "So that's what happened…" Ace said looking down. "Kazumi, Ace, Luffy… Promise we'll set sail! That we'll escape this kingdom… AND BE FREE! I want to see the world, and write a book about it! Studying navigation won't be a hardship at all! Let's get stronger together and become pirates!" The three smiled. "I would do that even if you hadn't suggested it!" Ace chuckled. "Me and Luffy already planned on it as well." Kazumi said patting the rubber boy on the head.

Ace got the the edge of the cliff, and spoke loud enough for the three to hear. "No matter how much people reject and hate me, I'm gonna be a famous pirate and show them all! I won't run from anyone! I won't lose to anyone! And I'll never be afraid of anything! I'm gonna make the whole world remember my name!" Luffy laughed. "Oh yeah? All right! WELL I'LL BECOME… THE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

Ace and Sabo looked dumbfounded, while Kazumi smirked at his brother comment. "The things you say Luffy." Ace said looking dumbfounded. Sabo laughed "Hahaha, That's great Luffy! I look forwards to seeing your future!"

The four kids were walking through the forest when the subject of captain came up. "But how can all four of us be captain?" Kazumi chuckled. "I thought I told you that I was joining Luffy's crew. It's only you three who want to be captains." Ace paused for a second. "Whatever. But I always thought you were gonna be the navigator on my ship Sabo." Luffy took a second before coming up with an absolutely brilliant comment. "You guys can be on our ship!"

After a few minutes of arguing, Ace brought out a bottle of sake, and four cups. "Anyway, let's leave our future decisions for the future. Maybe we'll all be on seperate ships! Did you guys know, if you share a drink, you can become brothers?" He poured the drinks. "Brothers!? Really!?" Luffy got excited. "We might not be on the same ship when we become pirates, but this will bind us together as brothers! No matter where we are or what we do, nothing can break this bond..!" They all clinked their cups and all talked in unison. "FROM TODAY ON, WE'RE ALL BROTHERS!"

Over the next few months, the brothers did everything they could to train and become stronger. Garp came to visit once and Kazumi reluctantly gave him the time of day. They moved out and built their own treehouse. But then, one day, while Garp had taken Kazumi on a trip to get him to understand what happened with his mother, the other three brothers got into a fight with some pirates who were under the command of Sabo's father. The two younger boys were beaten, and Sabo was taken away.

A week later, Kazumi returned with Garp and had a smile on his face. Him and Garp came to an understanding about why Garp was a marine, and why him and Luffy wanted to become pirates. They arrived at foosha and had lunch at Makino's bar. Garp had to go, and Kazumi bid him farewell, and took a run through the forest to find the treehouse empty. He thought maybe they were in grey terminal, but when he got there, he saw absolute destruction and he got worried. He sensed a huge commotion in hgh town and decided to check.

He saw a massive ship in the distance. He also saw a small fishing boat with a small boy on board. People were yelling at him to come back to shore. That got the boy to turn around, and Kazumi got a smile on his face. "SABO! HOW ARE YOU?! I'M BACK!" Sabo was really surprised by this but smiled and waved back. "HEY KAZUMI! I'M DOING GREAT! BUT THINGS HAVE HAPPENED, I'M GOING OFF TO SEA. TELL ACE AND LUFFY THAT I'LL MISS THEM, BUT I'LL NEVER FORGET THEM!" Kazumi smiled again. "I HOPE YOU FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR. WE'LL MEET YOU OUT ON THE SEAS SOMEDAY!" They gave their final waves, and Kazumi decided to stroll off and head home.

Everything was fine and dandy for a few minutes, but then he heard a canon shot, and heard screams, so he decided to run back and check it out. What he saw horrified him. The giant ship had shot at Sabo. He was in shock, and couldn't move. He then saw Sabo putting out the fire that had happened, and Kazumi calmed down, thinking that the ship would think that anyone on the ship was dead already, but then the ship shot again, and was completely destroyed. Kazumi's hair turned red, and he unsheathed his knife. He used moonwalk and landed on the ship, and started swinging his sword, destroying the ship and killing everyone on it. His hair turned back to blonde, and he passed out, falling into the water.

He woke up the next day at the bandit's hut, not knowing what had happened after he went berserk. Luffy and Ace were waiting by his bedside. "What's going on?" Luffy and Ace heard him and shot towards him locking him in a hug. Luffy started crying. "What happened to you? You left with gramps and a weird man in a cloak brought you back all bandaged up." Ace said calmly. Kazumi was about to respond when Dogra came through the door. "Oh great, Ace and Dadan, you're ok."

A few minutes later after Dogra had explained everything that happened. He explained everything up until all the commotion started. He didn't see what happened, up until the ship was destroyed. Ace started to lash out. "LIAR! YOU CAN'T JOKE AROUND LIKE THAT!" Dogra was trying to defend himself. "It's not a joke, and it's not a lie! It was so sudden… I doubted my own eyes..! I thought I must be dreaming! Ace got an even angrier look on his face. "STOP IT, IT'S NOT TRUE!" Kazumi was silent the whole time, up until Ace started to tear up. He spoke quietly. "Ace… stop attacking Dogra, he's telling the truth, I was there, that's how I got injured, I tried to save him." He said lying about trying to save his brother.

Luffy started to break down crying, while Ace got a look of pure anger, and he started to attack Dogra again. "WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO KILLED HIM!? I'M GOING TO KILL THEM MYSELF! I'M GOING TO AVENGE HIM!" He said grabbing his pipe and running for the door. Dadan grabbed the back of his head, and pushing him to the ground. "STOP IT RIGHT THERE YOU STUPID BRAT!" Ace screamed back. "OUTTA MY WAY!" Dadan continued to push down. "YOU THINK YOU'RE SO STRONG! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO!? YOU'LL JUST GET YOURSELF KILLED! YOU'LL GET KILLED AND BE FORGOTTEN BY TOMORROW! THAT'S ALL YOU ARE RIGHT NOW! IT WAS THIS KINGDOM THAT KILLED SABO! THIS WORLD! WHAT CAN YOU HOPE TO DO!?" Dadan was about to continue, but Kazumi interrupted her with his own raised voice. "Dadan, shut up for a second!" Dadan stopped and looked back. "What do you want?" she asked with a stern voice. "Ace wouldn't be able to kill the man who murdered Sabo, not because he's weak, but because the man is already dead."

Everyone but Dogra looked shocked. "So it was you who did that." Dogra said, which made everyone look at Kazumi. "Yeah yeah, whatever, I killed that man. He deserved it, he killed my brother. I didn't mean to kill all the other people, but I take pride in knowing the man who killed Sabo is now at the bottom of the port in many different people." Ace smiled while crying. "Thank you Kazumi." Luffy was still crying next to Kazumi. Dadan was freaking out, but then out of nowhere, Garp burst through the door. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!" Kazumi cringed and got a look of fear. "Garp… I'm sorry, I didn't mean too… it just happened… but I don't regret it." He said, finishing his sentence with a frown of pride.

Garp spent the next minutes contemplating what to do next. "Wait… how did you even find out what happened? I thought you left." Kazumi said looking confused. Garp got a look of disappointment. "Because, marine headquarters called me, and told me that a kid killed a celestial dragon, and completely destroyed a galleon." Kazumi looked down in shame. "I'm sorry Garp, I wouldn't have done it had I been in the right frame of mind." Ace looked angry at this. "What do you mean, you wouldn't have done it. You wouldn't have done it to avenge Sabo?" Kazumi continued to look down. "Ace, you weren't with me and Garp the past week, you don't know what we talked about. You don't know what those people will do. They'll order the destruction of an island because someone was cooking something they don't like. Now that I've done what I've done, I can't live here anymore, I can't endanger you and Luffy. I most certainly have a bounty now, and there's probably an Admiral on his way as we speak." Ace looked shocked at what his brother just said. "Even so Kazumi, you avenged Sabo, that should be reason enough."

Garp continued to think while the brothers mopped around. "You're right about the bounty thing Kazumi, and I have to admit, it's a hell of a lot higher than I would have thought. You're gonna be hunted very heavily for the rest of your life." Kazumi looked at Garp with interest. "How high are we talking? 100 Million? 300 Million? I mean, I killed a god in the eyes of the world government." Garp got a depressed smiled. "Even higher. You're on par with some of the strongest in the world now. Your bounty poster has a sketch since no one could get a picture before you disappeared, and your epitet is 'The Blood Angel'" Kazumi smiled softly at that. "And your bounty is 1 billion berri." Everyone in the room but Luffy was absolutely shocked.

"You-you're kidding r-right?" Kazumi said in horror. "Yeah shitty gramps, you gotta be. The only people with bounties that high are the emperors and their commanders." Garp continued to look down in shame. "Unfortunately I couldn't do anything about the bounty, but I did make sure that they can't find out your name. So you can continue to use it, but we need to hide you within the next week." Ace was furious. "How can you all just be fine with this!? He didn't do anything wrong! That man killed Sabo first, he deserved what he got! Why is Kazumi being punished for justice!? Isn't that what the marines are all about!?" Ace then started to cry. "I don't wanna lose two brothers in less than two days!" Kazumi pulled him into a hug. "I'm sorry Ace, it's my fault this all happened. I should've stopped Sabo when he was sailing out. I watched him get blown up. I couldn't move until after he died, and when I could finally move, I went berserk, and did the one thing I shouldn't have." Kazumi started to cry himself. "He wanted to be free, I couldn't stop him from his dream. He told me to tell you two that he'll miss us, but never forget us. So we have to do the same thing, now that he's… gone."

The brother spent the next few minutes mourning. Garp then finished his decision and spoke up. "Kazumi, you have today and tomorrow to say your goodbyes. We're leaving in 3 days. I can't leave too early or the government will get suspicious. I'm supposed to be hunting you down." Kazumi looked to Garp. " I understand, thanks for your help gramps."

The boys spent the rest of the day together before falling asleep early due to their exhaustion. The next day, they decided to do all they could together. They went to the cliff where they declared their dreams. Luffy was still sniffling. "Ace, Kazumi. I want to get stronger!" he started to cry through his determination. "Stronger, and stronger, and stronger, and stronger, and stronger! I'll get stronger! And then I'll be able to protect anything! And no one will have to die! So please… don't you two die either!" Ace got a look of understanding, but put on a face of anger as to not look weak for Luffy. "Don't say such stupid things! You should worry about yourself first! You're way weaker than us! Listen up Luffy, we're not gonna die, and don't you forget that!" Kazumi smiled. "And don't worry about me. I'll be back before you set sail. I promised you and Shanks that I would be your first mate. I can't go back on that just because I'm being hunted. We'll be hunted either way. This just means you'll have to catch up to me." He said while putting an arm around his little brothers.

They continued to look out to the sea. Ace stood up again, and stood on the very edge of the cliff "I'm stupid, so I don't understand what killed Sabo. But whatever it was, it was the opposite of freedom! He died without ever being free. But we made a vow with him, and we're still alive! So listen up Luffy, we have to swear, to live a life without regrets. It's the only way to truly avenge Sabo." Kazumi stood up and joined Ace. "Sabo said that he was gonna leave this country at 17, so I think that's when you guys should. I'll come back when Luffy leaves to join him. Ace, you want to make a name for yourself, then do so. Don't let this world hold you back, this world doesn't deserve your love." Luffy smiled through the tears and joined them. "The day we set sail is far from us, but when we do, we'll be free. We'll be strong, and defeat anyone who dares oppose us. We'll make a lot of enemies along the way, even Gramps. We'll be risking our lives, but we'll leave this country when we turn 17, and we'll become pirates." Luffy and Kazumi smiled at what Ace said.

They spent the rest of the day together, hunting and training. Spending every second they had together. But the night came, and when morning struck, it was time for Kazumi to leave. "Kazumi, I know you want a long drawn out goodbye, but I just got confirmation on which admiral they sent, and we need to leave. This man will kill you onsite, and without mercy." Kazumi understood what Garp was saying. He bid farewell to his brothers, and set off towards Foosha village where Garp docked his ship. Makino was at the port to bid Kazumi farewell as well. She had a new coat for him. It was exactly the same one that Luffy had given him, only bigger. "I know you have to go away for a long time, so you'll grow. I thought this would be a good parting gift." Kazumi took the coat, and gave Makino a hug. "Thanks, I'll definitely wear it. And thanks for raising me and Luffy, I know it's a lot to ask, but do you mind visiting them more often, him and Ace will need comfort, and it hurts to say, but the bandits don't exactly scream comfort." Makino gave a motherly smile. "Sure Kazumi, it's been great to know you." With that, him and Garp were off.

Kazumi didn't know what the future held for him, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna let the world government dictate what he could and couldn't do. He would train the next 10 years for Luffy, and become strong enough to protect his little brother from anyone who would wish harm upon him.

 **A/N: I know this chapter seems a bit fast and cheesy, but I did the best with what I could. I did what I did with Sabo and the Celestial Dragon because I need Sabo to 'die' for his comeback in the story to go off good. His comeback will be before the timeskip as I said in the prologue. The way Kazumi killed the Celestial dragon changed, because I thought that worked better than just killing 1 marine and the Celestial Dragon. Also, I had to fix Garp and Kazumi's relationship somehow, so I pulled that trip with him out of my ass. Anyway, hopefully you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.**


	4. The Beginnings of a Legend

A Journey of Kings

Chapter 3

(Chapters: Between the 10 Year timeskip in chapter 589 and chapter 1)

 **Quick Note: The 1 year timeskip I do at the beginning of the chapter, is because I can't figure out how to work with the journey to an unnamed island that he'll just be leaving from anyway, so I'll just be briefly going over what he's done in the year. I also do a bunch of other timeskips, because I highly doubt anyone would want to read a 3204 chapter long story about what he does all day every day.**

Kazumi is in danger. He is currently being chased by some bounty hunters. He thought he'd finally found a place for him to bunker down for a while, but then, he was ratted out by someone who found out who he was.

He's been trying to track down a woman who was in the same situation as him. A child running from the government. Devil Child Nico Robin was the woman he was looking for. Maybe, just maybe, she'd feel sympathy for him, and help him hide from the bounty hunters. It may be a small chance, but it's still a chance. He'd read about her story from old newspapers in the library of the island Garp took him too.

He was backed into a corner by the bounty hunters. "We got you now little brat. We're gonna cash in that billion berri bounty of yours. Don't know why the government is willing to pay so much for a kid, but I don't care." Kazumi had no way of escaping, and didn't want to bring anymore attention to himself, so he used a small dose of conquerors haki. Just enough to knock the 3 men out. He looted them, and ran.

A week later, after using moonwalk to get to another island, he found himself in a desert country. He asked around, and was told he was in the Kingdom of Alabasta. He had finally reached the island where it was rumored that the Devil Child had set up residence.

After a couple more weeks of searching, he caught a glimpse of the woman. He decided to stalk her, and learn her personality to know what her reaction to him would be. He was almost caught a few times, but remained unseen. He discovered that she was quite sadistic while around her group of people, but when secluded by herself, she seemed different. Her aura is calm and kind. He decided to make a move the next time she was alone.

It took a few days for him to find her alone in her study. He snuck in, and left a note on her desk while she was getting a book. He quickly left before she could notice him, and left to go where he set up a rendezvous point.

Nico Robin was surprised to find an envelope on her desk, when just a second ago, there was nothing on her desk. She sat down and picked up the note that had her name on it. She opened the letter to see it was written in poor writing, probably from a child. The note read: 'Hello Miss Nico Robin, My name is Atticus D. Kazumi. I know you don't know me by that name, but I have another. The marines call me by another name. The Blood Angle' Nico Robin was starting to get intrigued. 'I know you may not care about me, but I need help, and I read your story a while ago. We have a similar situation. You probably know what I did, and I hope you do, I want everyone to know I killed that bastard, because he killed my brother. Anyway, back to the subject, I've been stalking you the past week or so to see if you're someone I could trust to keep my secret. I've been betrayed many times, and you're now the only one who knows my true name besides by brothers. I've seen you in and out of closed doors, and you're a completely different person in either situation. Behind closed doors, you're calm and kind, but when in that group of people you hang around, you're quite sadistic. My point is, I need help hiding from bounty hunters, and I think you could help me. I know you may not want to, as it could put you in more danger, even more than you've ever had to deal with, considering I'm just a child with a billion berri bounty. If you're willing to help me, then meet me at the Nanohana port in 24 hours. If you don't show up, I'll understand, but if you do, I'll be eternally thankful' and under the letter, it was signed in horrible handwriting, Atticus D. Kazumi.

Robin gave it a lot of thought over the next few hours, and decided to help the young child in his situation. She met him under the docks, and they discussed their pasts. They created a bond. Robin had been working for the warlord Sir Crocodile for the past year, and needed to find a way to slip away from him for a while. She decided to trick him into thinking she was going on an infiltration mission on some islands for information. With that, she snuck Kazumi with her, and they were off.

Over the next year, they created a platonic bond that Kazumi would cherish for as long as he could.

They were lounging around one day reading book, with Kazumi's head on Robin's lap, when Kazumi started to drift off and think of his brothers. He started to weep quietly. Robing noticed this, and started to rub his head. "What's wrong?" She said in a calm voice. Kazumi looked up to her. "Robin… will you lie to me? Tell me I'll be ok?" There was a slight pause. "I still have 7 years until my brother sets sail, and we're being hunted more and more, the bounty hunters keep getting stronger. I don't know if I'll survive the next 7 years, let alone the feeling that I'm a burden to you."

Robin looked to the child in her lap repressing tears of sorrow, and smiled. "Do what you must Kazumi, I know you'll make the right decision, and I won't hold it against you. I just hope we meet again in the future."

Kazumi was slightly stunned at the level of trust she had in him. He smiled and spoke softly. "Thank you. I hope we meet again, but the next time, it'll be with my brother, my raison d'etre."

"I'm surprised you know a phrase like that." Robin said while keeping her smile. Kazumi looked to her and got a look of realization. "Oh yeah, I forgot I never told you what I did after my gramps hid me." Robin was slightly intrigued but didn't push. Kazumi paused for a few seconds before going on. "Well, basically, he dropped me off on an island that's neglected by the world government, so they were more than happy to harbour me. I was there for a little over a year, and in that time, I used their extensive library, and learned everything I possibly could. I learned about literature, strategy, navigation, the basics of cooking and history." There was a pause for a while. "Then, one day while I was learning about different weapons, a marine battleship came ashore with information of my whereabouts, so I booked it, and have been on the run ever since. In simple, I like to learn, and mine, and my brothers lives depend on it."

After a while more of talking, it started to get dark, and it was time for Kazumi to part ways with his friend, and after dawn broke, he was off to a new island.

A couple more years of running past before he got to the new world, which happened by accident while he was stowing away on a pirate ship. And so he spent the next few months island hopping again. One day while exploring a jungle on an abandoned island, he came across an unusually calm man. Kazumi was cautious, and tried to watch the man while hiding in the bushes, but was caught off guard when the man spoke to him. "I know you're there, stop hiding and come out here boy." Kazumi felt a strong aura coming from the man, one that he knew was not to be messed with, so he complied reluctantly. The man looked at the 16 year old boy standing in front of him. The boy may have looked uncomfortable to any normal man, but to this man, the boy in front of him was strong willed and respected power. "Well, what's your name?" The man said. "Kazumi, my name is Kazumi." he said while sitting down cross legged. "What's a boy so young doing with a blade of such high quality." The man said pointing to Kazumi's ankle. "It was my mother's." Kazumi said releasing a very small amount of conquerors haki. "Why do you care anyway?" The man looked intrigued. "Because boy, that blade you have is one of the 12 greatests blades in the world." Kazumi smirked, "I know that, tell me something I don't." The man smirked back. "Care for a duel then? You seem strong, but I'd like to gauge your skills with the blade."

Kazumi unsheathed his blade, and put it into a reverse grip. "We both know who's gonna win, but why not, I haven't had a proper duel in almost 6 years. You fine with first to disarm?" The man just smirked and nodded. "I too hold one of the 12 supreme grade swords, it's name, is Night." Kazumi was curious, he'd heard that name before, but couldn't remember from what. "My blade's name, is Eternal Peace." and with a silent nod, the duel began.

It didn't last long, but it was the most fun Kazumi had had in quite some time. He was laying on the ground panting, with blood coming from a few small cuts to his arm. "I was gonna ask your name after, but I don't think anyone could mistake what you showed back there…. Dracule Mihawk." Mihawk smirked. "Well spotted of you young man, it's wise to know those you'll be fighting." Kazumi continued to pant. "I keep tabs on anyone who could be a threat to me or my brothers." He said while sitting himself up against a rock. "Noble cause young man, and I must say, you held out longer than anyone I've fought in quite some time, other than that insufferable red head." Mihawk said while taking a swig of ale. "I've heard of your legendary duels with Red Haired Shanks. Duels that could level islands. I've heard rumors that you earned the title of strongest swordsman by defeating him, but never come across anything concrete, so tell me, was it Shanks you earned the title from?" Mihawk paused for a second. "That's a story for another time child, for now, rest and heal." Kazumi laid back against the rock and looked into the air. "Speaking of Red Hair, he's the one who trained me in my abilities, he's the one I have to thank for my life these past 6 years on the run." Mihawk looked at the boy with a look of curiosity. "I can see why he took an interest in you." Kazumi looked down to the swordsman across from him and snickered. "Most people would be honoured by that, but I take that as a challenge." Mihawk smirked back at that comment. "Oh, and what kind of challenge would that be?" Kazumi looked Mihawk dead in the eyes. "A challenge to show the world I deserve to live… I know you know who I am Mihawk." Mihawk thought for a second "Quite intuitive kid, the only question is, do you think I'm trying to take you in? I may be a warlord, but I don't work for the government, I merely do what I want, in return for not killing every soldier they send after me." Kazumi laughed. "Makes sense."

The next few hours were sat in silence, drinking and eating, but as dusk broke, Kazumi decided to speak again. "I should probably get going, the marines are probably getting closer as we speak, I don't wanna cost you your position." Mihawk shrugged the comment off. "I'll be setting sail with my brother in 5 years. You'll do well to remember his name, he's the man who'll become the king of the pirates." Mihawk smirked. "And what is this future pirate king's name, might I ask?" Kazumi grinned wide. "Monkey D. Luffy."

A few months later, he landed on an island with a bunch of pirates. He put up a good fight, but was ultimately captured. He thought about knocking them out with conquerors, but thought against it after feeling the presence of an extraordinarily strong person. The men put a bag over his head and lead them to their captain. "Look at this captain, we found this boy on the island sneaking around." Their captain waved for them to remove the bag. They untied and removed it from Kazumi's head. A couple seconds of blank stares from Kazumi and their captain happened, before panic ensued. "SHANKS!?" Kazumi yelled. "KAZUMI!?"

After a few more minutes of the two yelling back and forth at each other, Ben Beckman knocked the two over the head. "Calm down and talk it out like rational men." They both rubbed their heads and shut up. "Yeah, I guess you're right, sorry Ben." A few of the newer men that weren't with them when they were at Foosha were getting confused, and one of them spoke up. "What's going on here captain? Do you know this kid?" Shanks stared blankly at him. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Gather up everyone, it's time for a banquet for an old friend." Everyone comically fell over sideways onto their heads. "CAPTAIN!" Everyone yelled.

An hour later, everyone was eating, while crew members who'd met Kazumi before came up and greeted him. The newer crew member were still confused, and a new one spoke up. "So, how does everyone know him." Shanks was about to speak up, but Kazumi spoke first. "Well, I'm sort of Shanks' pupil, he taught me how to fight. Plus, my younger brother kind of challenged him." Shanks and his commanders started to laugh. "How's the little Anchor doing anyway?" Yassop asked. "Honestly, I don't know, I haven't seen him in 5 years, ever since the whole incident happened. "What incident?" Lucky Roo asked.

Kazumi spent the next hour or so explaining everything that happened. There was a dead silence after he finished. A few seconds later, Shanks spoke up. "Your telling me, that you're the 11 year old kid they put a 1 billion berri bounty on?" Kazumi snickered. "That's exactly what I'm telling you." The whole crew burst into laughter. "The marines are scared of a kid!" Yassop howlled. Kazumi smiled. "I honestly thought you guys would be more mad at me." "Whatever for?" Shanks asked back. "Because if I'd been captured, I wouldn't be able to help my brother fulfill his challenge." Shanks chuckled. "We'd never be mad a child who got captured by the marines, we'd be more worried if you had fought them off and won." Kazumi smiled back. "I've never taken them on directly, but I've been running from them for years." Ben smirked. "Just like a pirate." The whole crew cheered, and toasted to Kazumi. "You sure you can drink?" Lucky Roo asked Kazumi. "Hey, I'm 16, I'm a man now." Lucky Roo gave him a glass. "Suit yourself." Kazumi took a swig. "Hmmm, sweet. I would have thought it would be more bitter." "It's because it's top quality rum." Yassop explained

After the morning hit, Shanks pulled Kazumi aside to talk to him. "So listen, I know you have a few more years before you head back to Foosha, so I was wondering if you'd like some more training with your haki." Kazumi smiled. "I'd love it. It'll take away the boredom, and keep me safe for a while." And so, his training began

After 3 years of intense training, Shanks was getting concerned with all the marine activity near them, and so he went to break some news to Kazumi. "Yo Kazumi. " Kazumi turned back to look at Shanks. "Sup?" Shanks held a blank face. "I got some bad news for you." Kazumi continued to listen. "We've been here too long, and I have a feeling that the marines are setting up for a large scale attack. We need to head out, and unfortunately, we can't take you along." Kazumi thought for a second. "It's alright Shanks, I've been thinking about leaving for a little bit lately anyway. Ace left to become a pirate last year, and I've been thinking about going out to find him." Shanks held the smile on his face. "I hope you understand why we can't take you a long though." Kazumi smiled back. "Yeah. If the marines think I'm a part of your crew when I join Luffy, they're gonna be relentless to him." Shanks patt the kid on the back and laughed. "Exactly. Anyway, you've progressed faster than I could ever have hoped for, you'll be quite the force to be reckoned with."

"Thanks Shanks."

The next day after a grand banquet, everyone gave their goodbyes. After an emotional sendoff, the Red Haired Pirates and the Red Force were off.

Kazumi was trying to find a way back to paradise to find Ace, but it was hard to find anyone heading back that wasn't half dead. He was chilling out on an island cooking some dinner when he saw a huge flash of light coming from a nearby island and decided to go check it out. What he saw horrified him. It was his brother Ace, bloody and on the ground protecting his crew, with the man known as the strongest man in the world, Whitebeard, hovering over him. Kazumi went into straight defence mode, and sent an attack at Whitebeard to try and distract him so Ace could get away. The punch was aimed for his face, but Whitebeard put up his arm, and blocked the attack with ease. Kazumi landed in front of Ace with his arms out. "Ace! Are you alright!?" Ace was shocked. "Kazumi!? Where did you come from?" Kazumi glared at Whitebeard. "I was on an island just south of here cooking dinner when I saw a giant explosion, so I came to investigate. What I didn't expect to see, is my brother bloody and on the ground." Kazumi turned around to look at Ace dead in the eye while keeping his observation haki on max, to see when an attack would come. "WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING TAKING ON WHITEBEARD!" Kazumi yelled at his brother. Kazumi began to lecture Ace on why he had no chance of taking on Whitebeard. In the end, all that got through Ace's head, was that his brother had rescued him. He was about to argue back, btu a narcolepsy attack hit him, and he was passed out. Kazumi was confused, but went with it. "Oi, Whitebeard, you can take him now." Whitebeard was interested in this boy. He spoke in a deep intimidating voice. "You're gonna leave your passed out brother with an emperor, after he just challenged him?" Kazumi chuckled. "I can't sense any hostility from you, so I can tell you have no ill will towards him." Whitebeard laughed. "Very intuitive of you brat." Kazumi made a mental note of that comment, he now has the recognition of 3 top tier pirates. "I do have a question though… well, more of a request. I understand it may be rude to ask, but I need a way back to paradise, I never intended to come to the new world in the first place." Whitebeard gave him a smirk. "Asking an emperor to take you somewhere, you must have some bravado, or you're just stupid." Kazumi snickered at that comment. "I think a little bit of both."

After getting Ace patched up, and put into bed to sleep, Whitebeard and Kazumi sat down to have a conversation. He explained everything to the huge man. Whitebeard laughed out. "So that red haired brat has been harbouring a child." Kazumi laughed back. "I guess you could put it like that." Whitebeard took a swig of some sake. "Just so you know kid, it'll be awhile before we can get you back to paradise, about 6 months." Kazumi gave it a thought. "Doesn't bother me, I mean, if Ace is here, I'll be fine, I haven't seen him in 8 and a half years." Whitebeard took another swig. "Well then, welcome aboard the Moby Dick."

Over the next couple months, Ace was constantly trying to kill Whitebeard, and Kazumi was constantly lecturing him on why he would never be able too. Eventually one day, Kazumi was eating next to Ace who was sulking, when the first division commander Marco came to give Ace some food. "Hey Kazumi, how's it going?" Kazumi swallowed the food in his mouth. "Pretty good, I took down a rookie ship who wanted to challenge Whitebeard a couple days ago." Marco smiled and sat down cross legged. "You know, you're quite strong, you sure you don't wanna join Pops?" Kazumi looked up to the sky and smiled. "No, sorry Marco, I've already got a captain. He'll be setting out in a little more than a year, and just you wait, he's gonna make the world know his name." Marco sighed with a smile. "Well, if you want, you're always welcome aboard the Moby Dick." Kazumi looked back to Marco. "Thanks."

Ace was listening in, and spoke up. "Hey." Marco turned to Ace. "Yes." Ace kept his head in his arms and began to speak. "Why… Does everyone call him Pops?" Marco spoke without any hesitation. "Because he considers us his sons. We're just a bunch of strays here, so it makes us feel good, whether he means it or not." He took a pause. "You keep going on like you're going, you're not gonna last. You won't be able to kill Pops in your condition. Either get off this ship and try later, or stay, and take the mark of Whitebeard on your back!" Kazumi smirked and spoke to his brother. "You know he's right Ace, like I've been trying to tell you, there's no way to beat him in the state you're in, or, ever for that matter." Ace looked up to his brother. "Why don't you call him Pops? You seem to fit in quite fine around here." Kazumi sighed. "I feel it would be disrespectful to call him Pops since I'm not on his crew, I promised Luffy I'd join him, and I'm not gonna break that promise." Marco smiled "You know Kazumi, Pops wouldn't mind, all the allied captains all him Pops, and you're more than an ally, you're like family at this point." Kazumi was almost brought to tears by this. "Thanks Marco. Marco stood up and smiled. "I have some stuff to do, so I'll leave you two to talk. Think that over as well Ace." After a few minutes of silence, Kazumi spoke to his brother "I know you have ambitions of your own, but I think you should consider what he's saying Ace." Ace gave it some thought and decided to take the mark of Whitebeard.

Over the next few months, Ace had the mark of Whitebeard proudly tattooed over his back, and had become the second division commander. Kazumi had gotten a small Whitebeard symbol on his left shoulder to signify that he was always welcome with them.

They had just arrived in the new world at the Sabaody Archipelago, where Kazumi was parting ways with the Whitebeard pirates to find his way back to Luffy. "I hope you do well Ace, say out of trouble, and build your strength up. When me and Luffy finally meet you again, you better believe hes gonna have made quite the name for himself." Ace smirked back. "Don't need to tell me twice. I had to deal with him while you were gone, and let me tell you, he's still nowhere near a strong as me, but he's gotten a helluva a lot stronger since we all last dueled." Kazumi smiled at him. "I'll be the judge of that Ace." The brothers embrace. Kazumi then looked to Whitebeard and Marco. "Thanks for the time here, I'll always cherish it." Marco smirked and whitebeard laughed. "You're very welcome brat, it's been nice to meet you, and I hope to meet this younger brother you and ace have been non stop talking about." Kazumi laughed heavily at that. "You say that now, but you'll regret meeting him when you finally do." After a while longer of goodbyes with the other commanders, Kazumi was off.

He had about a little less than a year before he had to go back to Luffy, so he decided to scout out the islands he thought Luffy would most want to visit. In 9 months, he scouted out the full of Sabaody, Water 7 and Little Garden, did some light scouting of Alabasta, having already been there before, and made it back to Reverse Mountain, where he had some coffee with the lighthouse owner Crocus. While there, a rookie crew made their way down the mountain in a submarine, which was quite unusual for pirates, let alone a new crew, seeing as submarine's get damaged easily on reverse mountain, and from what Kazumi could see, it was damage a bit, and would needs repairs. Kazumi was expecting someone to come out, but when he saw who it was, he was quite interested.

"Trafalgar Law, or should I say, The Surgeon of Death Trafalgar Law." Kazumi said while staring at the man dead in his eye with a smile on his face. Law looked at this young man with confusion. "Do I know you?" Kazumi chuckled. "No, you wouldn't know me, only high up marine officials know me." When Kazumi mentioned the marines, Law got a little defensive, and was gonna draw his sword, but Kazumi stopped him by emphasizing his point. "Before you attack me thinking I'm a marine, let me explain. The reason only high up marine's would know me, is because my bounty poster doesn't have my face on it, only a description of me." A look of realization hit Law's face as he calmed down. "You mean… you're that kid?" Kazumi chuckled again. "Yep, that's me, I'm The Blood Angle." Law glared a little. "Why are you telling me this?" Kazumi gave a maniacal grin. "Because, in a few months, you'll know the name of my captain." Law gave a scowl. "And who might your captain be, might I ask." Kazumi exclaimed loud and proud. "His name, is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm his brother, Atticus D. Kazumi. You'll do well to remember our names." Law was very interested in this man after the mention of brothers that both had a D.

Over the next week of repairs, Law and Kazumi deuled with each other. After Kazumi won 9 out of the 10, Law started to acknowledged Kazumi as a fellow pirate. But once the repairs on the sub were done, Law and his crew were off to start their adventure in the first half of the grandline.

Kazumi decided to head back to Foosha to see his brother for the first time in 10 years. When he first got there, he went to the Party Bar to see Makino, who recognized him instantly. They talked for an hour as they ate lunch. He explained everything that had happened to him over the last 10 years. After they were done, Kazumi told her that he was going to see Luffy. She sent him off, and said that his secrets are safe with her.

It took him a while to remember where the bandit hideout was, but his body naturally walked him through after he stopped thinking about it. He arrived at the hut and knocked on the door. Dogra answered it with a shocked smile. "Hey Dogra, it's been a while." Dogra waved him in and called everyone. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the polite brat… it's good to see you Kazumi." Dadan said while giving him a firm handshake. "So, where's Luffy?" Dadan scoffed. "Hell if I know, he's been avoiding us like the plague." Kazumi snickered. "That's the Luffy I remember." Kazumi then spent the next couple hours going into very descriptive detail about his adventures the past 10 years.

Luffy came back a couple hours after they started a banquet. "Hey Dadan, do you know where th-" Luffy saw Kazumi and cut off his sentence. "Hey Lu… it's been a while." Kazumi said to his speechless brother. Before any more words could be exchanged, Luffy enveloved Kazumi in a hug, while silent tears fell from his cheeks. "It's good to see you too Luffy."

For the rest of the night, Luffy never left Kazumi's side. The night was cheerful, and the bandits and Kazumi had fun drinking, but the time came to head to bed, and Kazumi was grateful to be able to sleep next to his brother again.

Day came, and Kazumi went to check and see how the garden was, and to his surprise, it was being tended to by Magra. "I didn't expect this old thing to still be alive." Magra propped the hoe up on the fence and turned to Kazumi. "Well, I found it hard to go back to just meat after you left, and Luffy and Ace moved out, so they weren't keeping the plants alive, so I learned how to tend to it, and it's become a bit of a hobby of mine." Kazumi chuckled and smiled. "Well good for you. I quite enjoy gardening myself, so I'm glad someone else does too."

Kazumi went to wake Luffy up for breakfast. He had to drag the rubber teen out into the common area and slap him in the face with some meat before he woke up. "Just like how things used to be, eh Dadan?" Dadan let out a sigh. "Yeah yeah, whatever." Kazumi laughed at this.

After Luffy was done, he brought Kazumi with him to explore the forest again. On their way, Kazumi told Luffy about his time with Shanks and Whitebeard, but nothing else, as he didn't want to ruin Luffy's adventure. Luffy was ecstatic hearing about Kazumi's time.

Over the next 2 months before they were gonna set out, Kazumi trained with Luffy, and taught him some of the stuff Shanks taught him about armament and observation haki. Luffy was really bad with it, but he was a fast learner, and picked it up after the first month, but he only ever got a finger or two covered in armament, and could only dodge a couple stones with observation.

"Aren't you gonna see us off?" Luffy asked the bandits. "Even if the mayor and Makino don't mind, the people of the village would panic if they saw us coming down from the mountain, so just get out of here!" Dadan replied. "Thanks for everything you guys!" The two brothers responded. "DADAN! I HATE BANDITS!" Luffy yelled with a big smile on his face. "SHUT UP YOU BRAT!" Dadan screamed back. "But I like you guys!" Luffy finished.

The two brothers walk off with Dadan crying in the background. They made it to the village where everyone is waiting to see them set off. One of the villagers offers them one of their old fishing boats which Luffy tries to deny, but Kazumi changes his mind when he explains that there won't be enough room for any food with the both of them on the little dingy.

Luffy looks out to sea with a determined look, and then speaks to Kazumi. "Sabo was first! Ace was second! We're setting out third, but we're not gonna lose to them, are we?" Kazumi looks out to see as well and speaks. "No, we won't. We'll catch up to Ace and earn his recognition, and faster than anyone would ever think." Luffy looks to Kazumi and smiles.

A few of the villagers are confused, but keep a smile on their face. One speaks up. "What's with all the mumbling? Is it some kind of good luck charm?" Luffy looks back to the villagers. "It's not a charm, it's a challenge."

"Goodbye everyone, we're going off now." Kazumi speaks with a smile. "Good day to set off to sea, wouldn't you say Kazumi?" Kazumi looks to the sky. "Perfect weather to start an adventure. With that, the water starts shaking, and the sea monster that almost took their lives 10 years ago breaks the surface ready to attack, but unknown to him, the brothers are ready to fight. Luffy gives the monster a good punch to the face, and Kazumi uses a flying blade attack to cut it from bow to stern. Kazumi sheaths his knife, and yells back to the village. "IT SHOULD BE DEAD IN A MINUTE OR SO, BRING IS ASHORE AND HAVE A BANQUET IN THE HONOUR OF THE DAY THE NEW PIRATE KING SET SAIL!" Luffy then stood up and walked to the back of the boat and yell back at the village too. "THAT'S ME! I'M THE MAN WHO'LL BECOME THE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

A short time later while while out of view of the island, Luffy speaks up. "First things first, we'll need a crew. 10 men should be fine. We'll also need a flag." Kazumi smiled at his kid brother. "10 men is small for the crew of the pirate king, but you're the captain. Any idea on what you want our crew to be called?" Luffy gave it like 5 seconds of thought. "I don't care, it'll come to us after we get a few new members."

The brothers were chilling out having a small snack, while Kazumi steered every once in a while, keeping them away from anything to dangerous. He was leading them to the closest island to Dawn. He knew it was small, and didn't know if any towns were on it, but they'd need crew members soon before they tried to do anything too big.

They arrived at the island not to long after midday, and decided to take a break to cook something to eat. Unbeknownst to them, a pirate crew was making base not to far from their little campsite.

Kazumi sensed someone approaching.

 **A/N: Sup, it's me again. Sorry for the late chapter, I know it's been over a month, but you can blame my school for scheduling all the term test to take place once a day for 2 weeks, which had me studying as well** **for the 2 weeks before the tests, so I had very minimal time to write this. Hopefully I can get chapter 4 out sooner than a month, but I won't promise anything incase my school wants to pull a fast one on me again. Anyway, I know this chapter seems rather fast paced, but I think I got all the times to match up, and if they don't, someone please tell me so I can fix it. The Whitebeard part was my favourite part of this chapter, and I'm proud of it, because that whole mini story was inspired by a D &D campaign I did with my friend. He knows nothing about One Piece, but came up with a pirate captain that has the same "Whatever your past crimes are, whoever you were born too, it doesn't matter, we're all children of the sea" mentality. So the basic gist is, we were brothers in the campaign, the captain finds us, and we become part of the crew, obviously I changed it a bit, but I just thought I'd share. **


	5. Fun with Dreams

A Journey of Kings

Chapter 4

(Chapters: 2-7)

As the footsteps get closer, Luffy and Kazumi continued to eat. Out of the shrubbery, a short pink haired kid appears. "I-is anyone there?" The two brothers just look at the kid with a blank stare. "Who are you two?" The brother swallow their food. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" "And I'm Atticus D. Kazumi, his brother." The boy looked at them with an intrigued face. "Well.. I'm Koby." Kazumi reaches out towards the boy for a handshake and Koby grabs it. "Nice to meet you Koby, I have a question for you. Do you know if there's a town on this island?" The boy got a look of realization. "You-you guys need to get off this island right now! This island is the hideout of Iron Mace Alvida, the lady pirate!" Luffy got a confused look. "Who's she?" Kazumi explained that Alvida was a pirate in the East Blue with a bounty of 5 Million berri. Luffy burst out laughing. "5 Million is nothing compared to yours Kuzu!"

Koby was getting really confused from these two random guys who just showed up on Goat Island and knew of Lady Alvida, but didn't fear her. "What do you mean Luffy?" Luffy was too busy dealing with a bonk on his head, so Kazumi responded. "He means, my bounty is much higher than Lady Alvida's." Koby got a look of realization. "Oh…. wait… you have a bounty?" Kazumi chuckled. "Yeah, I'm kind notorious around the world. I bet even you and Lady Alvida have heard of me. I'll give you a hint, my bounty poster doesn't have a picture of me." It took a good 5 minutes of deciphering for Koby to figure out who the man in front of him was. Luffy was in the background just munching on the fish Kazumi prepared when Koby freaked out. "You-you-you don't mean!" Kazumi smiled. "I do mean. I am Atticus D. Kazumi, more well known as, 'The Blood Angel'!"

Over the next few minutes, Koby was pacing around freaking out about what Lady Alvida would do if she caught him around someone as well known as The Blood Angel. Kazumi tried to calm him down and explain what happened, and that he wasn't exactly a bad guy. The brothers invited him to eat with them. A conversation was had, and they ended up talking about Koby, to which he explained what happened to him. Wandered onto a pirate ship by accident trying to go fishing, and in return for his life, he became their cabin boy. He walked them a few meters behind some more shrubbery to show them his little dingy he'd made to try and escape. Luffy was looking at it with a confused look on his face. "Looks pretty good considering you built this without the crew knowing." Kazumi said. Koby was gonna respond when Luffy spoke up. "What's this? A coffin?" Kazumi gave Luffy a small bonk on the head. "Don't be rude, it took him two years to make this while basically enslaved." Luffy looked to Koby. "Two years, and you don't want it?" Koby grabbed the side of it and sighed. "... I really don't need it anymore. I built it to escape from this place… But I don't have the courage to try it. I guess it's my fate to be a cabin boy for the rest of my life. But I once had a different dream." Luffy wasn't even gonna try to be nice. "Why don't you just escape?" He said in a condescending voice. Koby started to shake his head side to side. "N-No way! Just thinking what Lady Alvida would do to me if she caught me makes my bladder weak… I just can't risk it!"

Luffy went in with a blunt statement. "You're kind of clumsy and dumb, and you're gutless too. You really are worthless!" He said laughing a bit. Kazumi just sat down not wanting to deal with this again. "Luffy stop. You don't have to be that frank." Koby sat down as well. "He's right though.I don't have guts to float around at sea like you two." There was a short pause. "Why did you two want to go out to sea anyway?" The two brothers smirked. "I wanted to go out to the seas originally to avenge our mother's murder, but it soon turned into helping my brother achieve his dream" He then looked to Luffy. "Well ya see… I'm gonna be the king of the pirates!"

There was a short silence before Koby started to freak out again. "K-King of the pirates!? But you'd have to make the WHOLE WORLD kneel before you! Wealth fame power… you'd have to achieve it all! Don't tell me you're after Gold Roger's lost treasure One Piece!" DO YOU WANT TO DIE!? Every pirate in the world is after that!" Luffy looks at Koby blankly "So am I." Koby continues to rant. "But the odds against you are ASTRONOMICAL! It's impossible! You want to be the king of the pirates in the golden age of piracy!? IT'LL NEVER HAPPEN!"

Luffy punched Koby over the head. "Hey! Why'd you hit me!?" "Because you were annoying me." Luffy said back. "It's ok, I'm used to it anyway." Koby said in a quiet tone. "We're not afraid to die Koby. Luffy's set himself to become the king, and I've set myself to help him, and if we die… then we die, but at least we tried." Koby looks at the two with shock. "And I believe I'll succeed too. If I didn't, I'd be deluding myself." Luffy said while holding his Straw Hat over his heart. "I never looked at it like that before… Maybe… I can be like that too! If I'm willing to risk my life trying… Maybe it's possible! Do you guys think I could join the marines!?" The two brothers looked to each other, then back to Koby. "The marines?" They both said in unison. "We'll end up being enemies… but I want to join the marines and fight the bad guys! IT'S BEEN MY DREAMS SINCE I WAS A LITTLE KID! Do you guys think I could do it!?" Luffy speaks in a blank tone. "How would I know?"

"Well I'm gonna do it! What've I got to lose!? I don't want to be a miserable cabin boy my whole life! Better to risk my life trying to achieve my dream! I'll join the marines… and then… I'LL CAPTURE ALVIDA!" Then out of nowhere Kazumi dodges out of the way of the dingy as Alvida burst out of the shrubs destroys the dingy with her iron mace. "WHO'RE YOU GONNA CAPTURE RUNT!?" The shock on Koby's face returned. "You little sneak! Did you really think you could escape from me!? Are those the bounty hunters you hired? Well they're both not Roronoa Zoro… So I'll give you one chance to repent… Who's the fairest throughout all the seas? ANSWER ME!" Luffy was intrigued by the guy Alvida mentioned. Koby was starting to stutter. "Heh, heh, heh. L-Lady Alvida y-you-" Luffy then pointed to Alvida as asked quite bluntly. "Hey, who's that fat old woman?" Everyone got a look of intense shock on their face, all except Kazumi, who was laughing.

Her crew then started to get angry. "How dare… NO WAY!" Koby then took hold of Luffy's shoulders. "LUFFY! Take it back! Throughout all the seas Lady Alvida is… Lady Alvida is… LADY ALVIDA IS THE UGLIEST OLD HAG OF ALL!" Luffy was laughing, and Alvida was taking it all in. "Damn straight Koby, stand up for what you believe." Alvida was freaking out, and Koby was freaking out again. Luffy then pushes Koby out of the way. "Good for you Koby!" Alvida then swung her mace up ready to attack. "It makes no difference to me… YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" The mace struck down onto Luffy's head. A second or two later. Luffy spoke. "That didn't hurt! Cause I'm made of rubber!" Alvida got a really shocked shocked look on her face. "IMPOSSIBLE! NO ONE SURVIVES THE IRON MACE!" Kazumi then chuckled and walked up to Alvida, taking her iron mace. "Actually, many people can. My brother can survive it because he ate the gum gum fruit, but anyone can survive a blunt attack, just watch." Kazumi swung the mace at his head, and it broke, he didn't use any haki.

There were screams and yelling from the crew of Alvida. Luffy took this time to wind up an attack. He brought his arm back. "GUM GUM PISTOL!" He yelled before smashing his fist into Alvidas face knocked her a few meters back, and knocking her unconscious. Kazumi decided to knock out the rest of her crew with conquerors haki before they could react. After a little while longer, and a meal later, the two brothers offered to take Koby with them until he could find a place to set up. Koby agreed with admiration in mind.

"You must have eaten one of those legendary devil fruits! Amazing!" Luffy just chuckled. "Yeah, my brother ate it right out of the hands of a pirate crew when he was seven, and I'm still ticked off." Kazumi said with a scoff. "And you're still alive!?" Koby said with an awestruck look. "Well, we were friends with the crew so it was weird, but nothing more was given but a long lecture about how he'd never be able to swim again. Although he never could anyway, so it really didn't matter." Koby just sat and listening to Kazumi explain this. "Well, I think i'd probably piss my pants if a pirate crew ever landed on my docks." Kazumi chuckled. "Well, you're gonna join the marines, so you'd better toughen up. They drill their recruits heavily, so you'd better be ready." Koby sighed and looked out to sea. "You know, you two seem really strong, how come you two decided to become pirates instead of marines." The two brothers got a dark look on their faces, and Koby felt the air thin. "I-I'm sorry if I hit a nerve." Kazumi let off a little. "It's alright, it's not like you know our past, but it should be pretty obvious why I can't become a marine, considering I have a 1 Billion berri bounty, and have had it since I was 11, but even before that, we would have never considered joining the marines, seeing as they murdered our mother." Koby was looking at them with a look of guilt in his eyes. "I understand not all marines are bad, I mean, our grandfather isn't bad, and he's a marine, and I could even have seen him changing our outlook on them, but then everything changed when our other brother Sabo was murdered by one of the world nobles, and the marines not only sympathized with the guy, but hunted me down, trying to kill me, an 11 year old kid. That's why we won't become marines. They tried to cover up what I did, but I want everyone in the world to know about how I killed that Celestial Shitbag."

A long silence ensued. Luffy had a feeling of pride, and Koby was feeling guilt and disparity. "I'm sorry for asking Kazumi." he said with his head down. "It's alright Koby, like I said, it's not like you had any foreknowledge. We may be pirates, but we're not bad people, we're not gonna go around attacking people just because they hit a soft spot… I mean, unless they physically attack a weak spot, then we'll defend ourselves, but we're not gonna attack unprovoked." Koby grew a small smile. "Maybe I can help change the marines, maybe meet your grandfather." Kazumi and Luffy laughed hysterically. "You don't wanna meet gramps Koby." Luffy said through the laughing. "He'll see you, and yell at you about how you need to grow some muscles, and then fall asleep mid sentence." Kazumi said finishing his laughing. Koby was a little embarrassed. "But I think he'd like a young spirit like you." Kazumi said trying to cheer him up.

Koby tried to change the subject. "Hey guys, if you're going for the One Piece, that means you'll have to enter the grandline." Both the brother said "Yep" completely synced. "They call it the pirates graveyard." Luffy was about to respond, but Kazumi spoke first. "The grandline is nothing to scoff at yes, but it's not as bad as people seem to think. Most people fail to get into the grandline because they are either underprepared, or they try to sail through the calm belt without some kind of propulsion system. Other than that, you just have to watch out for other pirates. Don't forget, civilians live on the grandline, so it's not just pirates." Koby was listening with interest, while Luffy was staring off into nothing. "How do you know so much about the grandline?" Kazumi gave a half smile. "I did tell you the marines have been hunting me since I was 11 right?" Koby nodded. "Well I lived in the grandline for most of that time, so I know the layout, and I know a lot of people, and even the first half of the grindline for an 11 year old was almost hell, but as I grew up, I learned how to survive. The first half is referred to as paradise because compared to the new world, it's like a vacation." Koby was listening with all his being, and Luffy was starting to listening in again. "I ended up in the new world by accident while falling asleep on a ship, and let me tell you, that place is nothing to even try to joke about. I lived the last 4 years on the run there. I dueled with Mihawk, trained with the emperor Shanks, and even joined the Whitebeard crew with our brother Ace for 6 month." Koby was sitting with a look of shock on his face. "Y-you don't mean to tell me you actually dueled the world's strongest swordsman, and got buddy buddy with two of the four emperors." Kazumi gave a smirk. "I did mention a pirate crew docking at our island right? That pirate crew was the red haired pirates, the man who our mentor is, is none other than Red Haired Shanks, he gave Luffy his straw hat, and me this ring. Luffy challenged him, and I trained under him." Kazumi then pulled his coat off and pulled up his sleeve. "And this tattoo, is proof of my time with pops." Koby and Luffy both looked at the tattoo with interest. "Remind me never to cross paths with you in a fight." Koby said with a shaky voice.

A little while, and a couple more stories later, Luffy wanted to know something. "Hey Koby, who was that guy Alvida mentioned? Rowrowsnowa Zero?" Kazumi burst out laughing as Koby's demeanor sank. "Roronoa Zoro." Koby corrected him. "Well whatever, if he's a good guy, I want him to join our crew." Koby started to freak out once again. "Now you're talking crazy again! Never never never! That'll NEVER happen! That guys a demonic beast!" Luffy laughs and asks some more. "So where is he?" Koby was still trying to tell Luffy how dangerous Zoro was, and Kazumi just responded. "Coincidentally, he's rumoured to have been caught by the marines on the island we're headed for." Luffy smiled. "Then set a course!" Kazumi just smacked his forehead. "I just said we were already headed there, the course is already set Luffy." Luffy wasn't paying attention and just started laughing.

There was another silence for a while before Luffy pitched in. "You mentioned he was a demonic beats. What do you mean by that?" Koby adjusted his glasses. "Well, they call him 'Pirate Hunter Zoro', he's like a bloodthirsty hound, roaming the seas hunting for men for the bounties on their heads. They say he's a demon in human form. Luffy, he's a pirate hunter, pirate hunters don't mix well with pirates." Luffy tried to defend him. "I haven't decided whether I'll invite him to join my crew or not. If he's a good guy, then I'll-" Koby cut him off. "He's in prison because he's NOT a good guy!" Kazumi cut Koby off this time. "How do you know why he's in prison? We've already discussed that the marines are shady." Koby conceded when Kazumi mentioned that.

They sailed for the next hour and made it to Shelltown. "We're finally here!" Luffy screamed out. "Luffy hush, we're pirates, we can't just arrive at a marine island and just scream out that we're here." Koby nods his head in agreement. They stopped at a restaurant to have a meal. Once they were finished, the trio were saying their goodbyes. "Well Koby, I guess this is where we go our separate ways." Luffy says while patting his stomach. "We hope you become a greats marine, and who knows, maybe you can change them." Kazumi finished. Koby started to get teary eyed. "Th-thank you, Kazumi, Luffy. I hope you two become great pirates, even if it means we'll be enemies." Luffy and Kazumi smile at him. "Oh yeah by the way, I just remembered. That guy is supposed to be imprisoned here. Roronoa Zoro." As Luffy finished his sentence, the people dining in the restaurant started to freak out. Koby whispered to Luffy. "Maybe you shouldn't say that name out loud around here…" His voice went back to regular pitch. "I saw a poster that said that Captain Morgan is at this base." As koby finished his sentence, the diners freaked out even more. The trio decided to just leave the building.

When they were walking up the road, Luffy started laughing. "What a great restaurant! I want to go back there again!" Koby was fiddling with his hands. "Everyone is so jumpy! I'm getting a bad feeling about this." They arrived at the gates of the base. "It looks so big up close!" Koby said in awe. "Go on Koby." Luffy said to the kid. "This i where your journey begins." Kazumi finished. "B-but I haven't mentally prepared myself yet, and those people sure were scared when they hear the captains name." Koby cut his sentence off when Luffy started to climb the wall. "What're you doing Luffy?" Luffy replied nonchalantly "I wonder if I can see the demonic beast from here." Koby replied more confidently. "You won't find him from just peeking over the fence. He's probably deep within the bowels of the prison." Luffy started to run along the wall. "Oh yeah? Well there's somebody over there! Maybe it's Zoro!" Kazumi just looked to the shocked Koby. "Don't try to argue with him, you'll never get through to him."

The 3 climbed the wall to look over. What they saw was a man tied to a cross post. "There he is!" Luffy said in excitement. Koby freaked out and fell. "What's wrong?" the brothers asked. Koby was shaky again. "A b-black bandana, and a haramaki sash! I-it's really him! That's Roronoa Zoro! He looks so menacing!" Luffy and Kazumi looked back to Zoro. "So that is him? Hmm, I could just untie those roped and set him free…" Koby freaked out even more. "THAT'S SUICIDE! If you let him loose, he'll kill us then wreck the town!" As Koby finished his rant, Zoro spoke in a deep voice. "Hey you guys! Come over here and untie me… I've been here for nine days and can't take it anymore." The two brothers were intrigued. "I'll make it worth your while. I'll capture someone with a big price on their head and give all of the bounty to you. You can trust me. I'm a man of my word."

Koby was about to freak out again, but Kazumi interrupted him. "Someone like me?" Zoro was confused. "What do you mean?" Kazumi chuckled. "I've got a bounty on my head." Zoro was intrigued. "You a bandit or something? What's your bounty?" Kazumi smirked. "I'm not a bandit, I'm a pirate... and my bounty, is 1… billion." The look of shock on Zoro's face was enough to make even a seasoned warrior interested in what happened.

After a short silence, Zoro responded again. "So you're the infamous east blue Blood Angel I've been hunting down the past couple of years." Kazumi snickered. "Yeah, but you would never have caught me, I wasn't even in the east blue, I've only been back here for the past couple months. Plus, I'm too strong for you." Zoro smirked. "You sure about that?" Kazumi then looked back, as a little girl approached the wall with a ladder and started to climb it. She shushed the three men as she dropped into the enclosure. Koby yelled at her. "Hey! D-don't go down there, it's dangerous!" Zoro looked to the girl. "What do you want?" Koby then looked to the brothers and freaked out to them. "Do something you two, she'll be killed!" The brothers both looked to Koby. "Why don't you do it yourself?"

The girl continued to walk up to Zoro, and Zoro responded. "Get lost! Do you want to get killed?" The girl unwrapped a cloth and presented a couple of rice balls to the swordsman. "I made these for you! I thought you might need some food! It's the first time I've ever made rice balls. I hope you like them!" Zoro immediately responded. "I'm… not hungry! Now beat it and take that stuff with you!" The girl responded with a hurt voice. "B-but…" Zoro started to raise his voice. "I don't want it, now get out of here! Or I'll stomp you to death!" As Zoro finished, a short slim man walked through the gates. "RORONOA ZORO! You shouldn't pick on little girls. I'll tell my father on you!" Luffy asked who he was. "I'd assume he's the son of a high ranking officer here." Kazumi responded.

They watched the interaction between Zoro and the man they learned was named Helmeppo, and was the son of the highest ranked marine in the building, Captain Morgan. They learned that the man, although first came off as nice, was actually just a huge asshole. He took one of the rice balls and ate it, only to spit it out and call it disgusting. He belittled the little girl and stomped on her food. She started to weep saying how hard she worked to make them. He then ordered the men following him to thrown the girl out, literally. They hesitated, but the threat of his father finding out made them do it reluctantly. The officer tried to toss lightly and told her to tuck so it would hurt less. As she was flying through the air, Kazumi caught her and put her on the ground safely. "In case you doubted me Koby, this should be enough proof that the marines are not all good." Koby then nodded and tried to help the kid. Luffy and Kazumi jumped the wall after Helmeppo and the guards left.

"You two are still here? Better not let Helmeppo's father catch you" Zoro told the brothers. "I'm looking for good men to join my pirate crew." Luffy told the swordsman. "Pirate crew? You think I'd lower myself to that level? No thanks!" Luffy responded with his own insult. "Becoming a pirate is my dream! What's wrong with that?" Zoro smirked. "You think if you untie me, that I'll join your crew?" Luffy responded again. "I haven't decided if I'll ask you yet… You've got a pretty bad reputation you know?" Zoro thought for a second. "Bad reputation huh? Well anyway, I don't go for that kind of deal. I've got my own plans for the future." He was gonna continue, but Kazumi asked him his own question. "Well then, what's your plan? From what I see, you're a prisoner." Zoro then smirked devilishly at the brothers. "My plans have me waiting out this month, then getting back out onto the seas to find Hawkeye Mihawk, and defeat him." Kazumi started to laugh out loud as Zoro formed a frown. "What're you laughing at? You got a problem?" Kazumi stopped laughing and looked Zoro dead in the eye. "You can't defeat Mihawk." Zoro scoffed. "How do you know?" Kazumi continued to look Zoro in the eye. " Because… I've dueled him before, and lasted about 5 minutes." Zoro got a look of slight shock on his face. "You dueled him? Nice bullshiting man, but you can't fool me, I mean, you don't even have a sword." Kazumi then bent down and lifted his pants up a little. "I may not use a sword, but I do have a blade." He then rolled his sleeves up and showed Zoro a couple scars from the deul. All that came out of Zoro's mouth was a choke. "If you join us, you may find him, and I won't stop you from trying to fulfill your dream, but just know, he's not on any level you've ever faced before."

There was a short silence, before Zoro could respond. "If there's any higher chance of meeting him with you, then by myself, then I'll think about it." Kazumi smiled. "Great, we'll be on our way then, we'll come back in a couple days to hear your decision." Zoro stopped them from going. "Hey wait a minute… pick that up for me." He pointed to the rice ball that was stomped out on the ground. Luffy picked it up. "You're gonna eat this? It's more of a dirt ball than a rice ball now, I know you're hungry, but-" "Shut up! Just feed it to me! And don't miss one grain of rice." Zoro said opening his mouth. The two brothers watched Zoro struggle to eat the rice ball. Zoro started to cough. "T-tell t-the kid. Tell her I said it was delicious. Tell her I ate it all." The two brothers chuckled and gained some respect for the swordsman.

The two brothers hopped the wall again and walked off to find Koby and the girl. They found them outside her mother's restaurant. "Yo." Kazumi said as they came into view. They told the girl, who they found out was named Rika, what Zoro said. "Really!?" "Yup, he ate it all up." Luffy responded. "I'm so glad." Rika said while smiling. "Maybe he's not such a bad guy…" Koby said while in thought. "He's not a bad guy. Everybody in town is scared of him, but he hasn't wronged them. He got thrown into prison because of me. Captain Morgan's son had a bunch of mean wolf's! They attacked me… Zoro saved me! Besides, those wolves were running loose and scaring everybody in town!" Luffy gave it a bit of thought. "So that's why he got sent to prison, because he hurt that guys wolves to save you?" "Yup!" Rika responded.

Koby came out of his thought. "That makes sense! Zoro's really scary, but he only goes after people with a bounty on their head, and he wouldn't be put in prison for that." Rika sat down with a scowl. "Captain Morgan and his son are the bad ones! They put people to death for no reason at all! Everyone's afraid of them."

As she finished speaking, they heard someone yelling down the street. "HA HA HA! You're not bowing your heads low enough scum! I'll tell my father on all of you!" Do you want to be jailed like Roronoa Zoro? We're going to hold a public execution for him in three days! We'll make an example of him, I can hardly wait!." Luffy and Kazumi looked to each other and said. "Three days?" Luffy then walked a few steps forward and spoke to Helmeppo. "But you made a promise to him!" Helmeppo stopped and chuckled a small bit. "What? Where did you hear that about? That promise was just a joke! He's just a stupid beast for believing it." Luffy was getting angry, and when Helmeppo started to laugh, Luffy grabbed his shirt and punched him in the face. There were shocked expressions from everyone,and a smirk from Kazumi. Koby tried to reason with Luffy to calm down, but he wasn't having any of it. "I've made my decision you two. I'm gonna have Zoro on my crew whether he likes it or not." Kazumi gave a thumbs up, and Koby just looked on dumbfounded.

The trio listened on as the two soldiers were accompanying a whining Helmeppo back to the base. Rika's mother came to get her away from the trio as to not have her daughter be associated with people who would soon be executed. Koby started to freak out yet again after fully realizing what just happened. Luffy just started to walk off. "Yeah whatever, I need to go talk to Zoro." Which left Kazumi and Koby walking behind him. "I told you not to try and reason with him." Koby slung his head down. "Yeah ok." he said in a depressed tone. Koby stayed back again, and Luffy and Kazumi hopped the wall for a third time. "Yo!" They both said to the tied up swordsman. "If you're here to get me to join your crew again, I still haven't decided." Luffy crossed his arm and pouted. "Sorry, but I've made up my mind! You're gonna join my crew!" Kazumi slapped his forehead. Zoro started to yell. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU'VE DECIDED!"

A few seconds later Luffy asked an actually smart question. "I heard you can use a sword!" Zoro scoffed a little. "If I wasn't tied up, I could show you." "So where are your sword now?" Kazumi was getting a little annoyed now. "Luffy, he's a prisoner, do you honestly think they'd let him keep weapons on his person?" Zoro looked to the man and chuckled. "You know, you two seem to have a really close bond, are you childhood friends or something?" Kazumi chuckled this time. "Nah, this kid's my younger brother." He said while rubbing Luffy's head. "That explains a lot actually." Zoro responded. Luffy then tried to blackmail Zoro. "If you want your swords back, you'll have to join my crew." Zoro then yelled back again. "YOU LITTLE RAT!" Luffy ignored this and just ran off for the base, leaving Zoro and Kazumi along.

Koby got the courage to come in, and what he saw was Kazumi sitting cross legged talking with Zoro. "Oh hey Koby, I see you finally decided to join us." Kazumi said waving his hand. "Yeah." He said in a semi-depressed tone. Zoro then asked Kazumi a question that would never leave his memory. "Hey Kazumi, why is Luffy the captain and not you? You're older, and obviously stronger." Kazumi sighed. "Yeah, I thought you were the captain to begin with, I just never had the courage to ask." Koby said. Kazumi looked to the sky. "A good older brother would give everything to protect his little brother, am I wrong?" They both nodded. "Exactly. I have my own dreams yes, but I can achieve mine while helping Luffy achieve his. He wants to be the pirate king, and I want to show the world I deserve to live." The two were silent as Kazumi went on. "A good first mate would also protect his captain, but a good brother would give his life to save his kid brother. I want to be a good first mate, and a good brother, so if that means sacrificing my own dreams, then so be it, as long as it makes my brother, and captain happy." there was a minute or two of silence before Zoro spoke. "I think… I've decided. I'll join Luffy's crew." Kazumi smiled. "I'm sure he'll really enjoy hearing that."

Kazumi decided it was time to cut Zoro free. He finished cutting Zoro out of the roped, when he sensed a bullet coming, and used haki on his arm to deflect it. Then the soldiers surrounded them. "STAY WHERE YOU ARE! Captain Morgan has ordered your immediate execution!" Captain Morgan himself then spoke as he walked forward. "SURROUND THE FORTRESS! IF RASCAL IN THE STRAW HAT ESCAPES, YOU'LL ALL BE SORRY!" He then directed his words at the three in the courtyard. "You four aren't simple outlaws, are you? You're trying to overthrow me. Roronoa Zoro! Peasants and pirates may tremble at your name… but you're no match for the great one! You may be a barracuda, but I'm a great white shark." Kazumi chuckled a small bit. "What are you laughing at boy? Last ditch effort to beg for your life?" Kazumi stopped laughing, wiping a tear from his eye. "No, I'm laughing at how stupid that was. If he's a barracuda, and you're a great white shark, then what does that make me? A sea king?" Morgan was aggravated but decided to play this little game. "What exactly are you insinuating? Who are you?" Kazumi then smiled and pulled out a piece of paper from the inside of his coat. "I'm insinuating I'm stronger than you by a wide margin, and as for who I am, I think this bounty poster might shed some light." He said tossing the paper over to the marine captain.

The look on Morgan's and the soldiers faces were priceless. Kazumi was laughing quite a bit. He unsheathed his knife and cut off the ropes retraining Zoro. He was weak, but could keep himself up. "FIRE MEN, THIS MAN MUST DIE! IF YOU FALTER, ON MY ORDERS, EXECUTE YOURSELF!." As the men aimed up and fired, Kazumi sensed Luffy was gonna appear in front of them, so he didn't bother blocking the bullets. Luffy landed in front of them and blocked them all using his rubber body. He pushed the bullets back at the soldiers. "BULLETS CAN'T HURT ME!" As him and Kazumi burst into laughter, everyone was shocked, and had the fear of god put into them. Zoro was the first to speak. "What ARE you!?" Kazumi knew what was coming. "I'm the man, who'll become the king of the pirates!" Luffy said with a smile and determination on his face."

Luffy turned to Zoro with the three swords in hand. "So which sword is yours? I didn't know, so I grabbed all three." Zoro, still a little shocked, responded. "They're all mine, I practice the three sword style." Luffy gave him the swords and turned to the marines. "You know, if you fight with us here, in the eyes of the government, you'll be one of the bad guys, of course, you could obey the law and let them kill you." Zoro attached his swords to his haramaki sash and replied. "You must be a demon spawn, but that's all right, I already decided to join you. You've got yourself a swordsman!" he said with a smile. Luffy threw his hands in the air excitedly. "REALLY!? You'll join my crew?" Zoro responded with a sigh. "I don't have much choice, plus, your brother kind of convinced me himself." Kazumi smiled.

The shock wore off on the marines, and they started freaking out. "WHAT IS HE!? BULLETS BOUNCE RIGHT OFF HIM!" Morgan stared at the boy and started to address his soldiers. "He's no ordinary human! He's eaten one of those devil fruits! The secret treasure from those seas." The soldiers gasped. "If bullets don't work, then use your sword's men." Morgans ordered. As they attacked, they were all stopped by Zoro. "First one to move… dies." Luffy started laughing. "Wow, you're really cool." Zoro then speaks to the two. "I'm a pirate now, I give you my word, I'm going to be the world's best swordsman! All I have left is my destiny! My name may be infamous, but it's gonna shake the world. If I have to abandon my dream for any reason while on your crew, I'll make you fall by your own blade!" Luffy and Kazumi smiled. "The world's best swordsman, that's great! The king of the pirates should have no less. Anything else would make me look bad." Luffy said with the biggest smile on his face.

Morgan started to freak out on his men for hesitating, but Kazumi knocked them all out with conqueror's haki. "What the hell was that!?" Zoro said moving the unconscious bodies off of him. "I knocked all the fodder out." He said nonchalantly. "I could knock out that asshat over there as well, but I think he's good training for you two. You and Luffy got this easy." Luffy then ran towards Morgan and punched him. Morgan blocked the punch with his axe hand. Morgan threw his coat off and got into a battle stance. "Hmph, you have neither rank nor status! I'll teach you to defy your betters! I'M CAPTAIN AXE HAND MORGAN!" He finished. Luffy responded. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet you."

Morgan swung his axe hand at Luffy, and Luffy dogged it. Luffy jumped up, and stomped both feet into Morgan's face. Morgan swung his axe up ready to strike. "I sentence you to death!" He said as he brought the axe down. Luffy spun out of the way and drew his leg back."I'm not gonna die." He said while connecting his foot with Morgan's face once again. Luffy grabbed Morgan's shirt before he fell and brought his fist back for a punch. "You and your marines are ruining Koby's dream!" He said as the first connected to Morgan's face. Before Luffy could give another hit, they heard someone scream. "STOP!" It was Helmeppo, and he was holding a gun to Koby's head. "ONE FALSE MOVE AND FOUR EYES GETS IT! EVEN IF YOU BLINK I'LL SHOOT!" There was a quick moment of silence. "HEY GUYS! DON'T LET THEM WIN BECAUSE OF ME! LET HIM KILL ME!" Koby screamed at the trio. Kazumi looked to Koby with a smile, and Luffy responded with a smile. "You're a good guy Koby!" In the blink of an eye, Kazumi was in front of Helmeppo, holding the gun away from Koby. "Finish the fight you two, I got onion head over here."

Luffy smiled and Zoro smirked. Without the two knowing, Captain Morgan snuck up on Luffy, ready to drop his axe on him. "You've assaulted an officer of the marines!" he said in a deep intimidating voice. As he was about to bring the axe down, Luffy swung around and kicked him in the crotch, giving Zoro an opening to cut him down. Within a couple seconds, the marine captain was on the ground unconscious. "Nice one Zoro!" Luffy said with a smirk. "Thank you… Captain." Zoro responded.

As the battle ended, the marine soldiers were starting to wake up. "The captain lost?!" One said in disbelief. "Captain Morgan's been defeated!" Another said in disbelief. "Any of you still want to capture us?" Zoro said, sheathing his katana's. The soldiers all looked to each other. "HOORAY! WE'RE FREE! MORGAN'S REIGN OF TERROR IS OVER! BANZAI FOR THE MARINES!" they all cheered. "I told you Koby, not all marines are good, just like not all Pirates are bad." Kazumi said walking towards Luffy and Zoro with Koby next to him. "I'll have to keep this in mind. Thank you Kazumi." Koby responded.

As they continued walking towards Luffy and Zoro, Zoro passed out from hunger. The marines were busy locking Morgan up, so the trio took this time to bring Zoro to get some food. Kazumi picked him up and slumped him over his shoulder. When they got to the restaurant, Rika's mother offered them some free food for saving the town. "UMPH! I'm stuffed! Not eating for nine days was worse than I thought!" Zoro said after chugging some water. "See, you never would have survived the month!" Luffy said stuffing his mouth. "Funny… you seem even more hungry than me." Zoro said watching Luffy closely. "He's got the biggest appetite you'd ever see. I blame gramps, he taught us, 'If you're hungry, eat', and Luffy takes that literally, so anytime he feels even slightly hungry, he'll stuff his body until he can't swallow anymore." Kazumi said finishing up a letter he'd been writing. "Btw, why are you writing an letter?" Zoro asked. "I have a bad feeling that Koby won't be able to join the marines, or will be kicked out if they find out about his past on Alvida's ship, even if it was basically slavery. The next highest officer here might understand seeing that it's the East Blue, but if anyone from Loguetown, or any big marine base finds out, they may tell Marine headquarters, so this is just insurance." Koby listened in with interest. "I'm very grateful to you for doing this for me, but what is a pirate's words gonna mean to the marines?" Koby responded. "Well you see-"

Kazumi was gonna respond, but before he could, the new highest ranked marine walked into the restaurant. "Hello, excuse me. You gentlemen are pirates correct?" The marine Commander Ripper asked. Luffy stood up and responded with a smile. "That's right! I even have my first real crewman now, which makes me a genuine pirate captain!" Ripper tipped his hat. "Um… you saved our base, and this town… and for that, we are truly grateful to you. However, we are still navy marines, and can't harbour pirates. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. But to show you our gratitude, we won't report this to marine headquarters." He finished with a stiff posture. A few citizens who were watching started screaming about how they're horrible for this. But Luffy just responded calmly. "I guess we'll be going then, thanks for the meal ma'am." He said started to walk for the door. Kazumi walked up to Commander Ripper. "Before we go, I'd like to give you this letter. It's a letter to Vice Admiral Garp. When the convoy to take Morgan comes, give this to the highest ranking marine. Tell him to give it to Garp. If it's Garp, then just give it to him." Ripper took the letter and looked to Kazumi with confusion. "How do you know Vice Admiral Garp?" Kazumi just smiled and walked past him. Ripper looked down at the letter and saw, written in perfect printing, 'To Monkey D. Garp, from, your criminal grandson's' Ripper got a look of shock on his face.

Zoro exited the restaurant last, but before they could walk off, Ripper came out of shock and asked something to Koby that Kazumi knew was coming. "Aren't you going with them?" Koby looked to the trio, and then back to Ripper. "I'm… not with them." Ripper then looked to Luffy. "Pirate. Is this true?" Luffy was about to respond, but Kazumi stopped him. "Luffy, don't be an ass. Yes, it's true to a point. He's not on our crew, but he is our friend. This young man's dream is to become a marine, completely opposite of us, but to become a marine after what happened with him is almost impossible. What's in that letter will explain to Garp why Koby deserves to become a marine. The reason he wouldn't be able too, without that letter, is because for the last 2 years, he's been imprisoned by the Alvida Pirates. That letter is both a recommendation, and an apology. Me and Luffy never wanted to be marines thanks to what they did, but Garp always tried to make us join, so we're making it up to him by giving him a replacement for us." everyone in attendance besides Luffy, who was laughing, was shocked. "So please, treat him nicely." He said about to turn away ."Also, one more thing. That Captain's son. Don't be too harsh on him, he wasn't raised right. Put him to work, and teach him how he needs to act, instead of how he thinks he should. Who knows, maybe he'll become a great marine one day as well." With that, the trio started to walk to their boat.

As the trio was started to get the small fishing boat ready to sail off. Koby came up to them and saluted. "Thank you very much guys! I'll never forget all you've done for me!" He said in a raised, but respectable tone. "This is a new one. A pirate getting a salute from a marine." Zoro said with a smirk. Luffy started to laugh. "We'll meet again Koby! We're going our separate ways, but we'll always be friends!" Kazumi and Zoro stood still, but had smiles on their faces. As the three got onto their boat, ready to set off, the rest of the marines came up behind Koby. "TEN-HUT!" Ripper said, making him and the rest of the marines salute the three as well.

The three set off. Luffy sat at the front of the boat and threw his hands into the air. "ALRIGHT! We're on our way… TO THE GRANDLINE!"

 **A/N: Finally, a chapter started, and finished quite fast after I uploaded the last. This is the first chapter that really takes place during the main storyline. I really hope you enjoyed what I did with the whole Koby situation, and Kazumi's personality should be starting to be understood now. Before it was in the grey area, as I didn't have much to go off of, but now that it's starting to pick up, I can start to expand on his personality. I'll be starting the next chapter the day after I post this, and like this one, I hope to get it up soon.**


	6. The Thief and a Liar

A Journey of Kings

Chapter 5

(Chapters 8-41)

"Don't you think it's strange that you don't know how to navigate since you're the captain? I thought the captain always steered the ship." Zoro said while resting on the deck. "Luffy has a hard time grasping the fact that he still needs basic knowledge of being a pirate instead of dumping all the tasks on me. As of now, I'm the Navigator, Helmsman, Shipwright, Cook, Doctor, Strategist and Musician." Zoro just looked at Kazumi and laughed. "Well then, have fun!" A while later, after they had a small meal, they landed at the side of Orange Town. "Well, that took a lot longer than I expected." Kazumi said getting off the boat, and tying it to a tree. "Better to dock here than at the port since we're pirates." He finished. When he turned around, all he saw was Zoro. Kazumi started to rub the bridge of his nose. "He ran off again, didn't he." He said as more of a statement than a question. "I swear, I didn't see him leave either." Zoro said holding his hands up in defence.

The two started to walk through the streets to find Luffy. They found him a couple minutes later talking to a girl hanging off a balcony. "The names Nami! I specialize in robbing pirates!. Wanna team up with me?" Kazumi and Zoro walked up behind Luffy. Kazumi punched Luffy over the head. "Luffy, how many times have I told you not to run off on your own? This isn't fun and games like back home anymore." Nami looked to the newcomers. "Seems like there's more to you than before." She said dropping down in front of them. "You must be his boss, how it do?" She says holding out her hand. Kazumi takes it and shakes. "No, he is, I'm just his older brother." Nami got a confused look. "Why is he the boss if you're older?" Kazumi went over to Luffy and got him up on his feet. "Long story, I'd rather not discuss it right now. Care to tell me why you want to team up with my brother?" Nami smiled. "I think together we could make a fortune!" Luffy started to walk off. "I don't wanna team up with you." he said in a blank tone. "His word is final." Kazumi said while walking off towards his brother, waving Zoro to follow.

"Hey wait a minute! Why'd you get so mad when that guy touched your hat? Is it valuable?" She asked following the trio. "It's my treasure." Luffy said continuing to walk. "Treasure huh? Do you keep jewels hidden in it? Or a treasure map!?" Luffy was getting annoyed. "A friend gave it to him. Now my brother said he didn't want to team up, do you mind leaving him alone?" Nami pouted for a second. "Well, he did save me, so can I at least repay him with some food or something?" At the mention of food, Luffy instantly stopped walking, turned around, and agreed.

When they got to a small house, Nami let them in, and served them some food and drink. After a short time, Kazumi was finished, and started to ask some questions "Why is there no one in town?" Nami sat down and tried her best to explain. "The town is basically deserted because everyone wants to stay as far away from the tavern as possible. That's where Buggy and his crew are." Luffy finished eating and chimed in. "Are Nami and his men really that scary?" Kazumi snickered. "I'M NAMI! BUGGY IS THE PIRATE!" She screamed at Luffy's stupidity. "Luffy, Buggy's another pirate, and he's a special one, seeing as he used to be on the same ship as Shanks when they were a lot younger." Luffy instantly started to listen closely at the mention of Shanks. "Really!? He used to be on the same ship as Shanks!?" Kazumi took a sip of the tea. "Yeah, Shanks told me about his travels while we were training." Nami was getting confused. "Who are you guys exactly?" The three looked to her, and Luffy spoke. "We're pirates."

After a short silence, Nami got an angered look. "I knew there was something off about you guys." Nami said in a monotone voice. "There something wrong about us?" Kazumi said in a deep tone. "If there's one thing in this world I really hate… IT'S PIRATES!" The three looked to the girl with valor. Kazumi spoke in an intimidating voice. "Listen, do what you do, but this is life, and life is about taking what you want, about doing whatever it takes to keep yourself from being miserable. If you want to be happy, you gotta be ruthless. Me and my brother can't live normal lives, we're basically forced to either die, or be pirates." Kazumi stood up, and looked at Nami straight in the eyes, giving off an intense aura. "Which would you chose?"

There was a short silence after Kazumi sat down. "I can see you have some questions. Fire away." Kazumi said in a bored tone. "What do you mean you're forced to be pirates?" Luffy looked to Kazumi with a sympathetic look. Kazumi pulled out his bounty poster and handed it to Nami. She looked at it and got a sense of dread. "Y-you don't mean." Kazumi got an annoyed look. "Don't ask, I've been through this like 3 times already, it's getting old." Zoro snickered at this. "So you're forced to be a pirate because of the horrible crimes you committed." Nami said with a scoff. Kazumi looked confused. "I know the marines exaggerated the story, but destroying a ship, and killing murderers isn't exactly a horrible crime." Nami was getting angry. "What do you mean exaggerated? The marines showed proof of your destructive rampage. Destroying an entire town, killing everyone in it! You deserve NO sympathy!" Luffy was getting furious. He stood up and started to scream. "THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED! KAZUMI AVENGED OUR BROTHER! HE KILLED THAT HORRIBLE MAN FOR KILLING SABO!" Kazumi put his hand on Luffy's arm. "It's ok Lu, calm down." He then looked to Nami. "What REALLY happened that day… was our brother Sabo was murdered. He was minding his own damn business, just sailing out of the port. At the same time, a world nobles ship was coming into port. Sabo avoided his ship, only to be shot down by the man. I avenged him. I killed that man. I destroyed the ship. Anyone else on board was just caught in my rage. I've lived the past 10 years of my life on the run thanks to that day. I've been in many fights, I've almost been captured many times. If I tried to be a normal person, someone would recognize me eventually from the description. If I joined the marines, they'd find out pretty fast, not that we'd have joined the marines regardless, they murdered our mother." He then look to Nami again. "Don't believe everything the marines say. They probably destroyed that town themselves to cover up what really happened."

There was a long silence with Nami looking really guilty. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed you were bad because of what you call yourself. I've had a bad past with pirates. Some took over my village, and I need to raise 100 Million Berri to buy it back." Kazumi sighed. "It's alright. Like I told our friend Koby, it's not like you had any foreknowledge. We're not exactly bad people, we're just forced to identify as bad."

Luffy tried to break the ice. "Hey. Do you know anything about navigation?" Nami got a small smile on her face. "Of course I do! I'm the best navigator around! I love the sea!." Luffy got a smile on his face as well. "Wow, that's great! Kazumi is great, but we need someone who can do it full time! We're headed to the grandline!" Nami chuckled a small bit. "I still feel indifferent towards you guys, but I guess I can be your navigator for a while." Luffy laughed. "Great! Let's go then!" Kazumi stopped Luffy before he could run off. "Don't forget, there's still an enemy pirate crew on this island, we gotta be careful. We should at least go meet Buggy, but we can't have you wondering off and starting a fight." Luffy slumped. "Yeah yeah, alright, let's go." Kazumi turned to Nami. "I have a feeling you're not a big fan of us going there, for your sake, go back to our dingy with Zoro. It's on the east side of town." Nami and Zoro nodded, and walked off, while Luffy and Kazumi walked towards the docks.

They arrived at the docks to greet Buggy. "C-cap'n Buggy! It's HIM! He's the guy who beat us up." Kazumi tried to defuse the situation. "Sorry about my brother, he gets a little defensive about his hat." Buggy the clown looked at the two. "Who are you guys?" Kazumi loosened up a little. "I'm Atticus D. Kazumi, and this is my brother Monkey D. Luffy. We're here to meet you Buggy, we have a mutual friend." Buggy was getting interested. "Who's this mutual friend you speak of." He said with a grin. "One of your old crewmates, Shanks. I'm his pupil, and my brother is his rival." Buggy was started to get angry at the mention of Shanks, but loosened up a little as to not flip out and hurt someone Shanks was close with. "Who said we were friends? I hate that red headed bastard, he ruined my life!" Kazumi looked to him with confusion. "Shanks said you two were friends. He never mentioned anything negative about you, always how fun you were, and how glad he was of the time he spent with you." Buggy got a twinkle in his eye. "I really mean that much to him!?" He said as more of a statement. He started to talk out loud to himself. "Maybe I should loosen up on him a little, maybe I shoul-" He cut off his sentence and got his angry tone back. "No! He still ruined my life! No matter what he says." Kazumi continued to look at Buggy. "How did he ruin your life? If you don't mind me asking?"

Buggy went on a rant about how Shanks made him eat a devil fruit, and how he lost a map to a big treasure haul. Kazumi was gonna apologize, but Buggy had other ideas. "Maybe I should kidnap you two and make Shanks pay a ransom as compensation." Kazumi got into instant defence mode. "Like hell you will!" he said as Luffy did the same thing. "Ooo, fighting spirit, I like it. Mohji, get him!" The furry looking man and his lion walked towards the brothers. "Last chance to stand down Buggy!" Kazumi said as a threat. Nothing happened, and Mohji and his lion continued to approach. "All right, you asked for it!" Kazumi released a wave of conqueror's haki to tame the lion, who instantly stopped in his tracks." What did you do to Richie?" the man on the lion cried out. "I tamed him." Kazumi said nonchalantly. "No matter, Cabaji, help out Mohji." Cabaji started towards them on his unicycle "Yes captain Buggy." Luffy and Kazumi were back to back. "Luffy, you take out Buggy, I got these two." Luffy nodded and made his way for Buggy. Kazumi started to fend off the man on the unicycle with his knife. Mohji was trying to get his lion to listen to him.

The fight lasted longer than he expected, but in the end, both men were on the ground writhing in pain. Kazumi looked towards Luffy to see him finishing off Buggy. "GUM GUM BAZOOKA!" He said as his hands snapped forward to send Buggy flying off into the distance. "I WIN!" He screamed with his hands in the air. "Good job Luffy!" Kazumi said. "Let's take some treasure and get out of here." He then looked towards the remainder of the crew, with an intimidating look. "Any of you got a problem with that?" They nodded and started to pack up. They left the site of the mob of villagers coming back to the village after hearing the commotion. When they got back to the boat, they loaded up the bags and set off. "Hey Nami. Those bags are filled with at least 20 Million Berri, as an act of gratitude, you can have it." He said while steering the ship. "You really mean it?" She said with twinkly eyes. "Wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it.

Kazumi told Nami where they were headed, and she told him where to steer. They were headed to the Gecko Islands. Specifically Syrup village. Luffy and Kazumi had someone they wanted to meet. They landed at the island after a couple hours. "Ahhh! Solid ground at last!" Zoro said while stretching. "You slept the whole way Zoro, you have no room to talk." Kazumi said. Zoro scoffed at that statement. "So what do you think is up with those guys?" Kazumi said while pointing behind him without looking. Up on a cliff, 4 people were starting to freak out. 3 of them ran away, leaving the presumed oldest one. He begged them to not leave. When they were out of sight, he stood up proud, ridding himself of his scared posture. "I AM THE NOTORIOUS CAPTAIN USSOP! FEARED PIRATE, AND RULER OF THIS VILLAGE!" Before he could go on, Kazumi and Luffy smiled, and cut him off. "So you're Ussop." They said in unison. "Y-you actually know me?" he said caught off guard. "There's no mistaking your name, we've heard your dad tell us stories of you hundreds of times." Kazumi replied

After the mention of his dad, Ussop invited them to some food. While eating, Ussop started to ask all different kinds of questions. Kazumi tried to calm him down. "One at a time, I can't answer 10 questions at once." Ussop took a deep breath. "How do you two know my dad?" He asked as his first question. Luffy was too busy eating, so Kazumi took it upon himself to answer any questions. "Well, about 10 years ago, him and the pirate crew he joined docked at our village, and we become friends, all of us." Ussop just looked on in amazement. "That's so cool. So what pirate crew did he join?" Kazumi looked down to his ring for a second or two. "Well, he joined the crew of someone you might know, he's joined the crew of Shanks and the red haired pirates." Ussop was ecstatic and beaming with pride. After a few more questions answered, Ussop started to ask about the small crew.

"So, what are you guys even doing at this remote island?" Luffy was the one to respond this time. "Well first off, we came to meet you, we wanted to ask you to join our pirate crew." Ussop got excited again. "Really?! You're looking for a crew!" Crewmen and a bigger ship?" "Yup, that's right." Luffy responded while taking a bite out of some meat. "Wow, what a great adventure! Well, you won't find any galleons in in this town, but there is a place you can go. The mansion that stands out like a sore thumb. The owner of the mansion is a young girl that's bedridden." Luffy wasn't paying much attention and just trying to order more meat. "Hmm. How did she become the owner of a mansion." Nami asked with a hint of concern. "About a year ago, both the poor girls parent's got sick and died. They left her with a huge inheritance, a mansion, and a few servants. She's living a life of luxury, but no one is more unfortunate than her." Nami sighed and put her hands down. "Forget about it. We're not gonna find a ship here. Let's go find another town." Luffy finished eating his chunk of meat. "I guess we can stock up on supplies. Let's go!"

Usopp told them he needed to go for a bit, and rushed off. As they were finishing up their meal, the 3 boys that were with Usopp earlier came in demanding to know where Usopp was. Kazumi explained what happened, and how Usopp just left them a few minutes ago. The kids started to realize what that meant, and told the quartet why he left. "He makes up stories to cheer her up, and has been doing it the past year? Makes you wonder if she really believes him." Nami said with a look of deep thought. "I think that's quite nice of him actually. From what he says, she's sick, and if he's cheering her up, then it could help her heal faster." Kazumi said with a smile on his face. Luffy then stood up with determination on his face. "That settles it! We're going to ask her for a ship!." Nami yelled back at him. "But we already decided AGAINST that idea!" Kazumi told her not to try and argue with him.

The quartet plus children all went to the side of the estate were the three kids showed them where Usopp got into the ground. It was a rather large section of hedge that disconnected into a big cube of leaves. They all walked through it to see Usopp talking with the estate owner Kya. "And after such a glorious feat, the people called out to me-" He was cut off by the three kids yelling to him. "CAPTAIN!" he didn't realize they were there and continued on. "That's right, they called me- wait… what're you guys doing here!?" He said realizing what had happened.

Kya was interested about the group. Luffy walked next to Usopp and smiled to her. "You must be the mistress of this place!" Usopp tried to play off them coming by saying they came from far away to join his crew, but Luffy instantly put that claim to rest. As Luffy was about to ask about the ship, they heard a yell from a man walking towards them. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?! You realize you're trespassing right?!" Kya tried to defend the group. "You see, these people-" She was cut off by her butler. "Save your excuses for later. You all must go immediately, or do you have business here." Kazumi sensed a murderous aura coming from the man. Luffy responded with a smile. "We came looking for a bigger ship!" The butler instantly shot him down, claiming he couldn't help. He looked to Usopp. "You… you're Usopp, aren't you?" The conversation between them went back and forth for a minute.

The butler had been being sarcastic the whole time. "Hmph, I'm tired of this charade. You've got quite a gift for deceit. I've also heard stories of your father. You're the son of a filthy pirate." He was about to go on, but Kazumi butted in with an angered voice. "And? What does that have to do with anything?" He said with rage in his eyes. Usopp was filling with rage as well. The butler snickered. "Those who choose to roam the seas for treasure gain their wealth in a dirty way, thus, making themselves dirty. Those who gain their wealth through hard work and determination, are pristine. That's the difference between mistress Kya and this pirate's son."

Kazumi was about to yell back, but was interrupted by Kya. "YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR KLAHADORE! YOU OWE USOPP AN APOLOGY!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "Mistress Kya, why should I apologize to this trash? I'm only speaking the truth." Kazumi was done with this man's disrespect. "I'd listen to her butler boy. Chose the words that come out of your mouth next very wisely." He said not giving any room for hesitation. "Empty threats from low class thugs. I do feel sorry for you though Usopp. Your treasure crazed idiot father abandoned you." Kazumi was about to draw his knife, when Usopp finally spoke up. "Stop… bad mouthing… my father!" He said with pure anger in his voice. Kazumi decided to hold back and see Usopps full reaction. "What are you getting so worked up about? Why not just fabricate some of your outlandish lies about your father? Just say he's really a merchant, or that he's not really your father, or perhaps…" Usopp cut him off speaking in a tone that gave of an aura of pure hate. "I'M PROUD THAT MY FATHER IS A PIRATE! I'M PROUD THAT HE'S A BRAVE WARRIOR OF THE SEA! YOU'RE RIGHT, I DO MAKE UP STORIES! BUT THERE'S ONE THING I WILL NOT LIE ABOUT! I'LL NEVER LIE ABOUT MY PIRATE HERITAGE! I'M THE SON OF A PIRATE!"

There was a short silence. Kazumi smiled at Usopp for standing up for what he believed in. Klahadore started to speak again. "Lie all you want, but faced with difficulty, your first resource is violence, and I know you're only kind to miss Kya because you're after her." Usopp was still getting more mad at his words, he opened his mouth to speak, but Kazumi put his hand on Usopp's shoulder. "Leave it be Usopp, a Lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of a sheep." Kazumi gave a glare towards Klahadore, who returned it. "We're sorry for disturbing you miss, we never meant to start a fight." Kya tried to calm her butler down. "It's alright sir. Klahadore isn't a bad person, he takes care of me, he only wants what's best for me, he just took it too far." She said with tears starting to flow down her cheeks. Klahadore was about to speak again, but Kazumi interrupted him again. "We're going to leave, do not speak to us again butler boy. Next time, listen to your employer." he said with a vague threat, and with that comment, the group left the estate grounds.

Usopp stormed off to a cliff, Luffy and Kazumi followed him while the others decided to leave the two brothers alone to talk with Usopp. When the brothers met up with Usopp at the edge of the cliff, he was surprised to see them. They had a small talk about how it was great Usopp stood up to the butler. "That butler said some obnoxious things about my father. He tried to ruin his good name." Luffy agreed with him. "That man had a murderous aura flowing off him. He's not the innocent butler he tries to come off of. He looks familiar to me as well, I just can't put my finger on it." They sat there for a few minutes in silence.

Usopp leant back and sighed. "I don't know, I don't think I'll go back and see Kya unless he begs me to come back." Kazumi shushed him. "I don't think that's gonna happen, I think I remember why Klahadore looked so familiar to me, and he's going to say it himself soon." He said pointing to the butler and an unknown face talking below the cliff.

They listened into the story and heard they were planning on killing Kya the next day through a pirate raid. Kazumi then shut them both up from freaking out. "That man, the butler, Klahadore. He's actually the notorious pirate that was caught and executed a couple years ago named Black Cat Kuro. He was rumored to be one of the smartest people in the east blue. It seems somehow he deceived the marines and settled down." The two being shushed got a look of realization. "I've heard of him before." Usopp said with wide eyes. Just as they were about to freak out again, Klahadore went on more. He explained how the man named Jango was to hypnotize Kya and have her write all her fortune to Klahadore in her will before killing her.

Kazumi pulled them back and made them walk towards the town silent. When they walked into town, they walked by Nami, Zoro and the three kids. "What's up guys?" Nami asked. Kazumi just looked at her and smiled, then continued to walk. They walked all the way up to Kya's estate and hopped the fence again, this time, going to the front door, and walking in. "Have you seen Klahadore?" Kya asked one of her other butlers. "I have." Kazumi said looking to her. The butler gasped and started to freak out. "What're you guys doing in here?" He said in a stuttery voice.

Kazumi spent the next few minutes explaining everything to Kya and the other butler named Merry. "I know Klahadore hurt you with those things he said about your father Usopp, but I never thought you'd stoop so low as to get someone to lie about that for you." Usopp started to freak out trying to explain he wasn't lying, but Kazumi shut him up. He stood up and said in a voice that did not leave any room for distrust. "This is no lie girl, this is a matter of life or death, if you need proof, then follow me, but don't complain when you don't like what you see." He said before walking off towards the door. Luffy followed him, and Usopp was indifferent but decided to follow as well.

The three waiting outside the gates for a few minutes before Kya came out to greet them. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but if you say you have proof, then I must at least see it and decide for myself." Kazumi waved her off and had them follow him to the eastern side of the island, to a cliff where he sensed Klahadore and his lackey walking off to. They all peered over the cliff and saw Klahadore talking over the plan with his old crew. Kazumi looked to Kya. "This enough proof for you?" He said with a sarcastic voice. Kya was in shock."N-n-no, th-that's not possible." Tears started to form. "Believe it or not, but that is no butler. That is the infamous Black Cat Kuro." He said to her face. "See, we told you Kya, now you need to escape the village and save yourself." Usopp said in a frantic voice.

Kazumi then stood up and looked to Luffy. "Do you mind if I take care of this son of a bitch… captain?" Luffy stood up and looked to his brother. "Not at all. Give him hell." Kazumi then jumped off the cliff, landing in the center of the deck of his ship, startling all the crew members, even the captain himself. Kazumi let out a burst of conquerors haki, knocking out all but two members of the ship, the captain, Black Cat Kuro, and the acting captain, Hypnotist DJango. "Why hello there gentlemen, care to explain what the elusive Black Cat Kuro is doing alive?"

Kuro was intrigued, while DJango was confused. "What gave me away? Might I ask." Kazumi smirked. "No meer butler has that much of a murderous intent flowing off them." Kuro started to laugh. "Well then, I guess there's no stopping this fight then." Kazumi nodded. "One quick thing." He said as he used Soru to move in front of DJango, punching him in the jaw, sending him flying upwards and into the forest of the island. He used Soru to move back to his original spot. "Now we're ready. You can even have the first shot."

Kuro was slightly concerned, but decided to attack with his sword claws. He used his own variant of soru to try and catch Kazumi off guard, but Kazumi sensed the attack coming and used armament haki to block him, breaking the claws off one of Kuro's gloves. "Times up." Kazumi said with a devilish smile. He then cocked his hand back and sent it thrusting forward towards Kuro's face, breaking his glasses, and making him bleed from his ears, nose and eyes, due to the sheer force of the blunt damage done to his face.

After a minute, Kuro regained consciousness. "Wh-what happened." He asked confused. Kazumi pulled him by the collar to look him straight in the eye. "I beat your lousy ass. Now, if you don't want to die, get your crew up and leave this island for good. NOW!" He yelled, throwing Kuro to the group of unconscious bodies.

Kuro got some crew members up and they sailed off as fast as they could. Kazumi used moonwalk to come back to where Luffy, Usopp, and Kya were. He started rubbing the blood from his hand off on the grass when he sat down. "Did I do my captain proud Luffy?" He asked. Luffy just smiled and nodded.

The four walked back towards the mansion in silence. They walked past Nami and Zoro again. "Hey, you didn't answer my question last time." Nami said in an annoyed voice. "I just beat up her butler." He said with a smile on his face. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!?" She yelled in shock. Kazumi explained everything on their way back to the mansion.

When they arrived, Merry was there waiting for Kya's return. He was frantic and asked what all happened, so Kya explained everything, with Kazumi filling in the blanks. Merry was shocked, but the fact that Kya was so distraught and trusting was the deciding factor for him. He took her to calm down, and Kazumi told him they'd be at the tavern for a meal if he needed them. The 4 of them minus Usopp, who said he needed to get a few things, walked over to the tavern and got a seat, ordered, and started eating.

A couple hours later, Kya walked into the shop. "Shouldn't you be recuperating?" Luffy asked her with a mouthful of meat. "I'll be fine. My illness for the past year was caused by the shock of losing my parents. Usopp brought my spirits up, but I can't rely on others forever. If I remember correctly, you guys needed a ship?" She asked. "Are you gonna give us a ship?!" Luffy asked with valor.

She walked them to a small beach on the north end of the island. "Wow." Zoro said with a smile. "A beautiful Caravel!" Nami said with awe. Merry was standing in front of the ship. "Behold! She's not the newest model, but I designed her myself. She's a caravel with a jib and a central stern rudder. I present to you, the Going Merry!" He then turned to the ecstatic Luffy. "I'll explain the rigging. First, regarding the adjustment-" He was gonna go on, but Kazumi just tapped him on the shoulder and tried to explain to him that everything he was saying to Luffy was gonna go in one ear, and out the other. So Merry then started to explain everything to Kazumi and Nami.

Kya then spoke up. "I've stalked it with everything you might need at sea." Luffy responded enthusiastically. "THANK YOU! You're sure adding insult to injury Miss Kya!" Zoro sighed and responded. "Try, 'Adding Icing to the cake', Moron."

They were all interrupted by some screaming. They looked to the path up the hill where they saw Usopp rolling down the hill with a big bag on his back. "STOP MEEE!" He was screaming. Right as he was about to roll right into them, Luffy put his foot up and stopped Usopp with a foot to his face. "Th-thank y-you." He said with his mouth blocked by Luffy's sandal.

Usopp and Kya had an emotional goodbye, talking about how she couldn't stop him from going out and pursuing his dream, and how she wasn't going to try too. Then, he turned to the group on the ship as he was getting ready to board their old fishing boat. "You guys take care. See ya around!" He said with a smile. "Why?" Luffy responded while leaning against the railing. "Huh? Why? That's not very friendly. Since we're all pirates, we might cross paths some day." Kazumi then spoke up. "Do you not remember why we came here in the first place? We came to recruit you. We assumed you'd join us." Usopp got a tear in his eyes and thanked them. He climbed aboard and settled in.

They set off for sea with a toast.

 **A/N: Hey guys, this chapter had me stumped for a bit, I almost had it done a few days ago, but I got the urge to change it, and I don't know how I feel about this chapter, but I think it fits. I know it's cringy at some points, but it will all make sense once the story really picks up after they reach the grandline.**

 **I had one of my friends ask me about where exactly Kazumi gets his power from. I know I explained what it is, but I can't explain where yet, but just know, for anyone else wondering, it will all be explained when we reach the Elbaf arc. If that never comes, then it'll happen during the Dressrosa or Wano arc. It'll explain EVERYTHING, from his power, to his and Luffy's mother.**


	7. Cooking Carnival

A Journey of Kings

Chapter 6

(Chapters 42-68)

"IT'S FINISHED! MY PIRATE FLAG! Ha ha ha! I already had the emblem thought up!" Luffy explained after presenting a horrible jolly roger flag. "A pirate flag ought to inspire terror, and this is pretty scary." Zoro said critiquing the flag. "You like it!?" Luffy said with a big smile on his face. Usopp spared no emotion and gave it to him bluntly. "Your panting sucks Luffy, let me try." Usopp then painted a perfect jolly roger, with a straw hat on top. "Good! I like it!" Nami said with a smile on her face. "That's great, let's paint it on the sail too!" Luffy said with an ecstatic voice.

"THERE! IT'S COMPLETE! OUR PIRATE SHIP! THE GOING MERRY IS READY!" They cheered. They all took a quick rest, but before long, they were all shaken awake when Luffy started screwing around with the canons. "What are you firing at!? Are we being attacked!?" Zoro asked startled. "That rock, it's canon practise. But this thing doesn't shoot right." Kazumi rolled his eyes. "That's silly, let me try!" Usopp said walking up the stairs to where Luffy was. "Hit that rock." Luffy asked. Usopp lined up his shot. "Judging from your first shot, that should do it." He then fired.

The shot blew up the rock on the island in one shot. "WOW! You hit it on your first try!" Luffy said with awe. "Of course he would Luffy, he is Yassop's son." Kazumi replied. "So you're our sharpshooter then?" Luffy asked Usopp. "Yeah, I guess I am." He replied with a smug looking face.

They all went into the galley for a snack. "I've been thinking! There's still one position we need to fill before we reach the grandline." The others were about to respond, but Kazumi snickered and interrupted them. "He's not talking about a cook you guys, he wants a musician." Luffy smiled widely. "So it's agreed?" The others got a dumbfounded look. "Are you NUTS!" They all yelled at him. Kazumi just laughed it off as they berated him with comments about how he needed to think more practical.

After they all calmed down, they heard someone on the deck. "COME OUT AND FIGHT YOU DOGS! I'LL MURDER THE LOT OF YOU!" The man screamed. Luffy ran out onto the deck to see a man kicking barrels around. "HEY! WHO'RE YOU!" he screamed. The man replied. "What's it… to you… WHO I AM!" He swung his dadao sword at Luffy, but Kazumi ran out and blocked it with his own blade. "Who do you think you are to attack my brother?" He said after deflecting the damage of the blade. Kazumi then punched the man in his stomach, making him kneel to the ground. "What the heck was that all about?" Luffy asked. Zoro and the the others walked out of the galley. "Well I'll be, it's Johnny." Zoro said. The man jumped up ignoring the pain. "BROTHER ZORO!" Zoro looked around. "What's going on? Where Yosaku?" Johnny was in a state of distress. "THAT'S JUST IT! LISTEN TO ME! YOSAKU IS... DYING!"

He brought Yosaku on board, and tied their small ship to the Merry. "He was fit and fiddle until a few days ago, then he went pale and started passing out! I don't know what's wrong!" Johnny explained. "His teeth are falling out, and he's bleeding from old scars. I-I don't know what to do, so then I went to get some rest and think on that rock. Then one of you shot a cannonball at us!" Luffy and Usopp got mortified looks on their face, and quickly apologized. "Forget it, that's history, what good are apologizes anyway." Johnny was going on while crying. "You can stop the sobfest." Kazumi said. Johnny was insulted and was about to yell at him. "He's just got some scurvy. Luffy, Usopp, go squeeze the limes from the galley into a bucket and bring it over." Johnny then realized what he was doing and calmed down.

A minute later, Luffy and Usopp came rushing out with a bucket of lime juice. They made Yosaku drink it all. "With luck, he should recover within the next few days." Kazumi explained to Johnny. "REALLY BROTHER!" Johnny said excitedly. "For generations, scurvy has been the bane of sailors. It's simply caused by a lack of nutrition, and since fruits and vegetables rot on long voyages, a lot of people don't bring them along, thus leading to a lack of vitamin C, thus, causing the disease known to all as scurvy." Luffy and Usopp where in awe at his explanation. "Wow, you're like some kind of Doctor Kazumi." Luffy remarked. "Luffy, this is absolute basic information you need to know if you expect to survive on your own. God knows what you would do without me." He said with a sigh.

Yosaku was up and dancing around with Johnny within the next few minutes. "HOORAY! SAVED BY LIME JUICE! GOOD JOB BROTHER!" They sung out. "YOU'RE NOT WELL ENOUGH TO DANCE!" Nami screamed out to them. They calmed down and took a stance. "Introduction time. I'm Johnny." "And I'm Yosaku! We're brother Zoro's old bounty hunting partners! Pleased to meet you." They said while standing strong. "I don't know how to thank you all! I was sure I was a goner!" Yosaku said with a smile on his face. "I still can't believe it. Pirate Hunter Zoro, a pirate!" Johnny remarked.

They all settled down and started talking. "So we have Kazumi, who's kind of like a jack of all trades, but he can't do everything. We still need a cook and a doctor." Usopp said while staring at the sky. "He's right, those are an absolute necessity." Nami replied. Luffy got the hint. "Okay, that settles it, we'll look for a sea cook next. What good is a ship without decent grub?" Kazumi replied sarcastically. "You trying to say something about my cooking?" Luffy tried to apologize, but Kazumi just shrugged it off.

Johnny stood up and raised his hand eagerly. "Brother! Brother!" Zoro looked to him. "Speak Johnny." Johnny lowered his hand and spoke. "If you need a cook, I know where to find one. But whether he'll join up with you is another matter. He works at the ocean restaurant called the Baratie. It's only a two or three day sail from here, but be careful, it's near the grandline, some rough customers frequent that place. Brother, they also say, that even that Hawkeye guy you were hunting dine's there. I can guide you if you want." The mention of Mihawk got Zoro's blood pumping, and he gave off a devilish smirk.

After a couple days at sea, they finally reached the Baratie. "Here we are! The ocean-going restaurant!" Johnny yelled out. Everyone stared at it in awe. "What do you think?" Yosaku asked with excitement. "It's so cool! It looks like a big fish!" Luffy and Usopp replied in unison.

As they were sailing closer, a marine ship approached, going in the same direction. "Whoah, a Marine ship!" Luffy said with intrigue. "Where'd it come from? I hope they don't blast us." Usopp replied. Everyone was at the railing paying close attention to the ship, when a man came into view and started to speak. "I'm lieutenant Ironfist Fullbody of the marines. Who's the captain? Speak your name!" Luffy responded with no hesitation. "Monkey D. Luffy! We just made our pirate flag a couple days ago." Johnny and Yosaku started to laugh in the background, calling them amateurs.

Fullbody noticed the two. "Hmm, you two scalawags look familiar. You visit the government agencies a lot. You're those two bounty hunters, Johnny and Yosaku. Captured by pirates eh?" The two started talking to themselves about being insulted. They were about to start attacking, but Kazumi stopped them, telling them to not provoke a Marine officer if they wanted to continue bounty hunting. Fullbody had someone call to him from inside his ship. "Fullbody, quit picking on those sissies and let's go." Kazumi got confused. "D-did, she just call us sissies?" He asked to no one in particular. "It's your lucky day pirate scum, it's my day off and I've come to dine, but beware, when we meet again, you're dead." Fullbody replied with a threat.

They started drifting apart, although still sailing in the same direction. A few seconds later, Usopp started screaming. "THIS IS BAD! THEY'RE AIMING A CANNON AT US!" The shot rang out in the air, and in a split second decision, Kazumi jumped up on the railing, and caught the canon ball with his bare hand, making is disintegrate on impact. Everyone aboard the Marine ship that saw the event were shaken to the core, as well, Johnny, Yosaku and Nami were wide eyed.

Kazumi gave a death glare to Fullbody and spoke. "Threaten my captain again, and next time, it won't be a cannonball I break, it'll be your skull." And with that threat, the two ships docked at the restaurant. Fullbody and his date walked into the restaurant at a fast pace. The group of pirates decided to wait out some time so they wouldn't have to deal with the arrogant marine officer for very long.

They walked in after about 10 or so minutes, only to find a barely conscious and bloody Fullbody being lifted into the air by a blonde man in a suit. "To offend a cook at sea… Is a fools mistake, remember that. Food must NEVER be wasted." The group behind Kazumi were all in shock with their jaws to the floor, while Kazumi was just smirking. Just then, another man came out of the kitchen with wide eyes. "AGAIN SANJI!? WHAT'RE YOU DOING TO DAT CUSTOMER!?" Sanji looked over to the man. "Hello shitty cooker. Say my name with respect." The man got really angry. "CUSTOMERS ARE THE BLOOD OF A RESTAURANT! SO WHY IS HIS BLOOD DRIPPING OUT OF HIM!? EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" Sanji calmly replied. "Customer? This lowlife wasted precious food, and insulted us cooks, so I taught him some etiquette."

The group that was standing in the doorway made their way to an empty table to sit down while Fullbody tried to make some vague threats of shutting this place down. Sanji threatened back, and the chefs tried to hold him back, that was, until the head chef came out asking what the hell was happening. "Chef! You gotta stop Sanji!" a couple of them shouted out. The chef looked to Sanji. "Attacking the clientele again?" He asked. "Zip it shitty geezer." Sanji replied. The head chef kicked Sanji across the face with his peg leg. "DO YOU WANT TO RUIN ME?!" He then turned to Fullbody who was on the ground, and kicked him across the face as well. "YOU GET OUT OF HERE TOO!".

Sanji and the man started arguing again, but the owner shut them up. "Sanji! Patty! If you're gonna fight, do it in the kitchen!" A bloody marine officer opened the door, standing in the doorway. "LIEUTENANT FULLBODY, IT'S TERRIBLE! Sorry sir, but, he got away, from the ship's brig! That pirate of Krieg's escaped! We wanted to questions him, but he beat up seven of us and got away!" The marine yelled out. "IMPOSSIBLE! When we captured him three days ago… he was half dead from starvation, and we haven't fed him!" Fullbody responded.

There were murmurs of fear from the other patrons of the restaurant. "FORGIVE ME SIR.." The marine yelled out just before being shot in the back of the head by someone. The man then walked in, and started for a table. The chefs were murmuring about how he better not break anything. Luffy and Kazumi were just watching the whole thing unfold. The man sat down, with one foot on the table. "Being me food. Anything…" He said weakly. Some events played out quite fast. Patty came up to him, asked about money, the man threatened him with the gun, got beat up, and Patty threw him out the door.

In the chaos, Fullbody left the restaurant, Sanji went into the kitchen, and the head chef barated Patty for breaking a chair. Sanji came out of the kitchen holding a bowl of food, and a glass of water, and walked out the door. While the rest of the crew was distracted, Luffy and Kazumi decided to follow Sanji outside. They were too far to hear the conversation, but they saw Sanji give the starving man some food for nothing. "I've found you. My cook." Luffy said

They walked closer to them. "You sure got lucky! That food saved you! You darn near starved!" Luffy said to the man. "You know, my old chef Thatch would have loved to see what you did back there." Kazumi said looking to Sanji. "Ya think? Must be a smart chef." Sanji said taking a drag of his cigarette. "Hey Mr. Cook! Join us, be the cook for my pirate crew!" Luffy said with a big smile on his face.

Sanji looked confused. "You're a pirate? Well, you'd better watch yourself around here. Chef Zeff used to be a famous pirate." Luffy looked interested. "That old man was a pirate?" "Yeah, and the Baratie is his treasure. The cooks who flock to him are all hot-blooded pirate types. For a place frequented by pirates, they're perfect for the job. One grows used to it. Some people come just to see the pirate and cooks go at it, but the waiters got scared and jumped ship." Sanji finished up his rant with a drag. "Well, anyway, you should sail with us." Luffy said nonchalantly. "I refuse. I've got a good reason for staying here." Sanji said looking up to Luffy. "Well I refuse your refusal." Luffy said crossing his arms. "You can't refuse someone's refusal Luffy." Kazumi replied softly with his palm on his forehead.

"What? He's a good cook, and he's joining my crew." Luffy said trying to be reasonable. "Now hold on, listen to my reason." Sanji replied. "What is it then." Luffy said actually trying to be reasonable. "None of your business." He replied. "YOU JUST TOLD ME TO LISTEN!" Luffy yelled at Sanji. "I MEAN, RESPECT MY WISHES! I'LL MAKE A FILLET OUTTA YOU YA STRAW HATTED KID!" Sanji yelled back. "YOU MAKE FUN OF THIS HAT AND I'LL SEND YOU FLYING." The man Sanji had fed tried to but in. "Sorry to butt in, but…" Sanji and Luffy both yelled at him in unison. "WHAT!?"

"I'm Gin, one of Krieg's pirates. If you're really a pirate, what's your prize?" He responded. "I'm after the One Piece. We're going to the grandline." Gin's sweat dropped. "If you don't have a cook, you must not have much of a crew yet." Kazumi pitched in this time. "As of now, I'm the cook, the doctor, the helmsman, and shipwrite and the musician." Gin just looked at him and snickered. "Yeah, besides Kazumi, this guy makes 5." Sanji tried to yell at him more. "You don't seem like a bad sort, so I'll give you a word of warning… Whatever you do, don't go to the grandline." He said in a series tone.

A few seconds of silence passed. "You're young, don't rush to your doom. The seas are vast, the grandline is just a narrow route. There are plenty of safer waters to plunder." Luffy took interest. "Hmm, really? Do you know a lot about the grandline?" Gin put his hands on his head. "Not much… hardly anything at all… but enough so it scares me!" Gin was going to go on, but Kazumi asked a question. "How long were you in the grandline?" Gin took a couple seconds to think. "6, maybe 7 days." Kazumi snickered a little bit. "What're you laughing at him for?" Sanji said in an angered tone. "Sorry, didn't mean any disrespect, it's just that 6 or 7 days isn't enough time to get a real feel for the grandline. Say, who'd you run into? Was is Crocodile? Or maybe you landed on Jaya?" Sanji and Gin looked to Kazumi with interest. "Who are you exactly?" Sanji asked. "And how do you know that stuff about the grandline." Gin finished.

"Well you see, I basically grew up on the grandline, I can navigate it to a point, I know where the major islands are, and I even know the dangers of it, but the one thing I can tell you is, the only reason you only lasted that long, is for one of two reasons. You either ran into a warlord, or you landed on the outlaw island of Jaya." Gin scoffed. "I'm supposed to believe a kid in the east blue grew up on the grandline?" Kazumi gave a bored look. "You don't have to believe me. But your opinion doesn't take away from the fact that it's the truth." Kazumi said shoving the remark off.

After some more time, Gin said he should probably get back to his own captain. "Hey Gin, If you ever return to the grandline, don't mess with Alabasta, Crocodile will have your head." Gin hopped in the rowboat Sanji gave him. "I'll remember that." He then looked to Sanji. "Sanji… My thanks. You saved my life, that grub was some of the best I've ever eaten. Can I come eat again?" "Anytime." Sanji replied with a smile. Zeff came out onto the top deck above them. "SANJI! There you are!" He said while seeing the dish that Sanji had given Gin, but he said nothing. "Good luck Gin." Gin gave a guilty smile. "You're gonna catch hell now… for giving me a free meal." Sanji picked up the dishes and threw them into the sea. "Free meal? Where's the proof?" Sanji said with a smile. Gin thanked him again and rowed off. Zeff gave a half smile then continued to yell."SANJI! GET TO WORK!"

Sanji got to work while Luffy and Kazumi returned to their table. "Oh hey guys, how was your thing?" Zoro asked while taking a swig of some sake. "YOU'RE EATING WITHOUT ME!?" Luffy yelled at them while taking his seat. "Luffy, we took like 30 minutes to talk with Sanji, you can't really blame them." Kazumi tried to reason with him. Sanji walked up to them to refill their drinks. "Luffy quiet down. Are these your mates by the way?" Zoro just smirked, while Usopp and Nami introduced themselves. "O SEA, HOW GRATEFUL I AM FOR THIS DAY OF DAYS! O LOVE! SMILE UPON ME, FOR I CANNOT SURVIVE THIS PAIN! I WOULD STOOP TO BECOMING A PIRATE, OR EVEN THE DEVIL IF ONLY I COULD BE WITH YOU! SUCH TRAGEDY! THE OBSTACLES BETWEEN US ARE GREAT!" Sanji said while swooning over Nami. The rest of the crew was just confused.

Zeff was standing nearby watching everything. "Obstacles Sanji? Follow your heart. Go be a pirate. I don't need you anymore." He said. "I'm the assistant chef here, what do you mean I'm not needed?" Zeff scoffed. "You fight with the customers. You waste hours flaring your nostrils at women, and you're a lousy cook. You're nothing but dead weight Sanji. The other cooks don't much like you either, so go be a pirate and get out of my restaurant."

Sanji stepped closer to Zeff and grabbed his shirt. "DON'T STEP OVER THE LINE OLD MAN! You can insult me, but don't EVER insult my cooking! I'm staying right here! You have no say in the matter!" Zeff took Sanji's arm and flung him over his shoulder into a table, breaking it in half. "DON'T LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME YOU UNDERDONE EGGPLANT!" Sanji leaned up and adjusted his collar. "YOU CAN'T KICK ME OUT! I'LL COOK HERE FOREVER! UNTIL YOU DIE!" He screamed at Zeff. "I won't die. I'll live another hundred years." Zeff retorted as he walked away. Sanji threw a couple more insults with no weight. "Great! You got permission! Be my cook!" Luffy said with a smile on his face. "NEVER!" Sanji yelled at him.

Sanji came back to the table a few minutes later and put a dish in front of Nami. "Forgive the commotion. A fruit macédoine with my compliments, and a grand marnier as a digestive my princess." He finished by pouring some wine into a glass. "Oooh thank you!" Nami said being polite. "Hey! Don't WE get anything?! That's discrimination! I'll sue!" Usopp said wapping his hands on the table. "I gave you tea, didn't I? You should be grateful you mangy octopus!" Usopp was gonna go on, but Kazumi interrupted him, still looking at the menu. "Sanji, I'll order a tomahawk spiny lobster and some wine if you don't mind." Sanji nodded. "I'll be a few minutes. What kind of wine did you want?" he asked "Surprise me." Kazumi replied with a smile. Sanji returned the smile and walked off to the kitchen. Usopp just sat and watched dumbfounded. "How'd you get him to listen to you?" Kazumi just sat back and smirked. "You just need proper etiquette when talking to a sea chef, you'll come to learn that if he joins."

An hour later after everyone had had something to eat, a commotion started as everyone started to look out of the window, screaming about pirates and hourglasses. "WOAH! THIS IS BAD! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Usopp screamed at them. "Brothers, let's set sail! We don't wanna die!" Johnny and Yosaku pleaded. "That ship is huge! Maybe Gin's come back to say thanks!" Luffy said to Sanji. "I doubt it, but something seems off…" Sanji said with a dreadful look. "That ship is a wreck. A great galleon ravaged to that degree… that wasn't the work of men, they must have sailed through a typhoon." He finished

A couple minutes later, Gin walked through the door dragging a large man on his shoulders. "Please may I have some food and water…. I've got money… lots of money." The man said in a weak raspy voice. There were murmurs from everyone. The man collapsed to the ground. "THE DON'S ON THE VERGE OF DEATH! IF YOU DON'T HELP HIM HE'S DOOMED!" Gin screamed. "HA HA HA HA! HOW RICH! Whatta laugh. Dis bum is the dread Don Krieg?" Patty laughed out. "THIS TIME I GOT MONEY! WE'RE CUSTOMERS!" Gin tried to plead. "Alert the Navy! They won't wanna miss out on this opportunity! Don't feed him a crumb! Just grab em!" Patty finished. Kazumi stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "No one is going to call the navy!" He said in a raised voice. The restaurant when silent. "Whatta ya mean?" Patty asked. "I don't have to explain myself to you, but I won't allow you to call the navy." He said calming down. Patty got angry. "Who're you to dictate what I can and can't do?" Just then, Sanji kicked Patty in the side of the face knocking him to the ground. "Outta my way Patty." He then sat a bottle of wine and some rice in front of Krieg. "Here Gin he can eat this."

Don Krieg started eating, thanking Sanji through muffled noises. "SANJI! TAKE THAT FOOD AWAY FROM HIM! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO HE IS?!" One of the chefs yelled out. Kazumi took the reigns once again. "That right there, is Foul Play Krieg, tyrant of the eastern seas. He started out a prisoner, but somehow lied his way onto a marine ship. Once there, he killed the officers and took control. That's how he became a pirate. He started to fly the marine flag. He'd sail into ports and attack both towns and ships plundering them. He even flies a white flag before opening fire. He'll stoop to anything to win. His duplicity is legendary in the east. I don't agree with how he does things, but you can't help but understand how he got so famous here in the east."

Krieg finished eating and stood up. He tried to attack Kazumi by wrapping his arm around him, but nothing happened. Krieg couldn't move, and Kazumi was standing still, perfectly fine. "See what I mean?" He said in a bored tone. Krieg was a little concerned, but he stepped back. "I see I don't have my full strength back yet, but no matter, it'll come in time. As for now, this is a nice restaurant. I'll take it." He said looking around. All the patrons were running away onto a ship to get away from him.

Gin was pleading to his captain to stop this, but Krieg was having none of it. "My ship's a wreck. I need a new one. When I'm finished with you, I'll dump you. I have about a hundred men on my ship who draw breath. They're dying from wounds, hunger and thirst. They need a hundred rations of food and water. You will prepare them. Some have already starved to death, so there's no time to waste." One of the chefs spoke up. "You expect us to feed a hundred pirates so they'll have the strength to take over our ship? WE REFUSE!?" Krieg just snickered. "Refuse? You don't understand. It's not a request. IT'S AN ORDER! DO NOT DEFY ME!" he yelled back.

Sanji started towards the kitchen. "YOU! You got us into dis mess! Where do ya think you're going Sanji!?" Patty yelled across the room. "The kitchen of course. We've got a hundred meals to prepare." He said taking a drag of his cigarette. Everyone was confused. All the chefs surrounded Sanji and pulled guns on him. "Are you Krieg's dog Sanji? We can't let you into the kitchen. We're NOT going along with this! IT'S AN OUTRAGE!" A few of them spoke out to him. Sanji just stood there and put his hands out. "If you want to stop me, then shoot. I know they're unredeemable villains, but my job is not to judge them, that get's to complicated. If a man is hungry, I feed him! That's a cooks job. What's the problem?" Sanji tried to reason with them. Kazumi leaned over to Luffy and whispered in his ear. "I want him, he's a true cook, one worthy of being on the pirate kings ship." Luffy just smiled at him. Kazumi then walked towards the circle of men.

"Would you risk your life?" He asked the chefs. "Huh?" a couple of them asked. "I mean. Now that you've drawn your pistols, are you willing to use them?" The chefs were becoming confused. "What da hell are you talking about?" Patty asked. "I'm saying, guns aren't for threats they're for actions. So, are you really willing to shoot one of your own?" The chefs hesitated. A second later, Zeff walked out of the kitchen, and dropped a bag at Krieg's feet. The chefs lowered their weapons in confusion. A couple called out to Zeff. "There's food for a hundred. Take it to your men." he started to walk away.

"CHEF! WHAT'RE YOU THINKING?! IF WE FEED ALL THOS PIRATES, THEY'LL COME AND OVERRUN US!" One of them shouted out. "Unless they're spineless dogs." Zeff responded and turned to Krieg. "Isn't that right, Mr. Couldn't-Get-Through-The-Grandline?" Everyone was baffled by this statement. Krieg was still caught up on the chef's name. "Y-you're Red-Leg Zeff! So you're still alive. A unique pirate, the captain-cook." He said with sweat dripping from his face. "So what if I'm alive? What's it to you? I'm now a chef exclusively." Zeff responded without any hesitation.

"HA! You say it as if it was a choice. But did you choose to become a chef, or was being a pirate too much for you?" Kazumi gave out a few small snickers. "You got something to say runt?" Krieg said to Kazumi. He caught himself and replied with a happy voice. "Nah, I just think it's funny how you, the so called grand East Blue king, couldn't get through 7 days in the grandline, when I, at age 11, entered the grandline, and didn't leave until a few months ago. I got through all of paradise, and half of the New World before I left, and I left on my own accord." Zeff raised an eyebrow in interest. Krieg just laughed. "A runt like you? HA! Don't make me laugh." Kazumi just looked to him with blank eyes. "This runt you speak too could knock your ass down with one attack. I think the one who should be laughing is me, at the man who thinks he's bigger than he really is. You couldn't survive a storm, I can only imagine what someone like Crocodile would have done to you."

Everyone was either freaking out, or just listening to the kid talking to Kreig. "Who exactly are you boy" Zeff asked speaking up. "Some call me the brother of the 'Devil child', some call me the 'Angel of Death', most know me as 'The Blood Angel', the kid who gained a billion berri bounty. All are flattering, but my name is Atticus D. Kazumi, I'm the brother to Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become the king of the pirates." He finished with a proud voice. Everyone was in awe, shock, or disbelief. "I-i thought you were just a legend." One said. "Believe me, I'm very much real." Kazumi replied. Krieg was in utter awe, but thought of a plan. He left when no one was paying attention.

Gin tried to apologize when everything calmed down. A huge argument came out of it, but Zeff shut it down, calling them inconsiderate. Some more explanation from him, and the cooks were ready to fight. "Are you fools!? If you know what Krieg can do, you'd better run!" Sanji took a drag of his cigarette. "Gin, listen to me. As a cook I consider it my duty to feed the hungry, but soon, I'll be facing plunderers with full stomachs, so if I beat your mates to death, don't complain. If they try to take over this ship, I'll slaughter them without mercy, and that goes for you as well. Got that?" Patty scoffed. "First you feed em, then you kill em? Great idea Sanji."

Luffy and Kazumi were still sitting with the crew. "See guys? He's tough!" Luffy said with a big smile. "Who cares!? We gotta get outta here if we wanna live!" Usopp said cowering. "Relax guy, they're wounded and starved." Zoro said trying to calm him down. "Yeah, besides, I've got to fight Krieg. He's a powerful rival. I'll have to take him down sometime." Luffy said with a determined face. Kazumi spoke up. "If that's how you feel Luffy, I won't interfere, this is your journey. But don't mistake it, if you get overwhelmed, I won't be acting as your crewmate, I'll be acting as your older brother." Luffy just scoffed. "Yeah yeah whatever." Luffy spoke louder to Gin. "Oi, Gin. You said you didn't know anything about the grandline. But you've been there!"

Gin put his hands on his head. "I truly know nothing at all. It's all a foggy memory. Something happened on our seventh day. But was it a dream, or was it reality? It's all mixed up in my head. He appeared so suddenly. Just… one… man. How could one man scupper 50 ships?!" With that statement, everyone started to freak out, calling it impossible. All but Kazumi and Zeff. "So, it was Mihawk after all." Kazumi said with a blank face. Zoro got wide eyes hearing that name. "You say he scuppered those 50 ships, but I bet you he just cut them up completely." Zeff responded. "That man has the ability to cut mountains into dust with minimal effort." Kazumi added. "Dracule 'Hawkeye' Mihawk is a beast. No one but Red Haired Shanks is anywhere near him in swordsmanship." Zeff finished.

"That man, is the man I've been looking for, Johnny said he comes here." Zoro said. "Don't know about Hawkeyes, but old Redeyes was here. Drank so much wine his eyes turned red and he exploded into fire." A couple of chefs ranted on. "So he beat the whole armada? Did you do something to upset him?" Sanji asked Gin. "Not that I know of! He just attacked us!" Gin said, hands still on his head. "Maybe you interrupted his nap." Zeff offered nonchalantly. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY! HE MURDERED MY CREWMATES!" Gin yelled out with tears. "Gin, he wasn't joking, that's exactly something Mihawk would do. It's just the nature of the grandline." Kazumi said trying to calm Gin down. "Anything can happen on the grandline, it's not some place to just scoff at." Zeff added.

Luffy got excited talking about how he was excited about a place where anything could happen. Usopp was pleading to him to think about danger just once. "I know where I have to go, that's where I'll find him." Zoro said with his hand on his white katana. Sanji looked to the group. "You're fools. You'll be killed as soon as you get there." He finished with a drag. "True enough, but don't insult us." Kazumi said. "The day I decided to become the greatest swordsman, I gave myself up for dead. Nobody calls me a fool but me. I have my reasons." Zoro said with a look of pride. Luffy and Usopp agreed. "Look Sanji, I'm sure you have something you're willing to die for. Well so do we. For Luffy, he wants to become the king of the pirates, for Zoro, it's the greatest swordsman, Usopp wants to be a brave warrior like his father, and me. Well I want to prove to the world I deserve to live, but my dream has been put aside to help my brother with his dream, and if I have to die for that before I can achieve my own dream, then I'm perfectly fine with that." Sani looked indecisive, while Zeff looked to them with a wide smile.

"By the way, where is Nami?" Usopp asked. But before anyone could respond, the ship started to rock violently. "What's happening!" A couple people yelled out. Kazumi had his eyes closed. "He's here… Mihawk… he's come to finish off Krieg." Kazumi said opening his eyes, and pointing out the window. What everyone saw, was the giant galleon ship split into half. "NAMI, JOHNNY AND YOSAKU MIGHT BE ON THE SHIP!" Zoro yelled out. The crew wasted no time running out to find them. They found Johnny and Yosaku in the water screaming for them. "JOHNNY! YOSAKU! YOU OKAY!? WHERE'S OUR SHIP!? WHERE'S NAMI!?" Zoro yelled out to them over the sounds of the waves. They pulled them aboard. "S-sorry brothers. They're gone! Sister Nami! She sailed off with all the treasure!" The three started to freak out. "WHAT! SHE TOOK THE SHIP!?" They yelled in unison.

Kazumi then walked out. "There's more pressing matters guys. I haven't felt that presence in quite a few years. We need to prepare for a fight, be it with him, or the backlash of his fight with Krieg." Kazumi said pointing to the silhouette in the fog. "Hey! I can still see the ship! It's the Going Merry!" Luffy said pointing into the distance. "Johnny, Yosaku, where's your ship?" They pointed to the left. "Anchored over there." Zoro scoffed. "Forget her. Why go chasing after that little thief?" Usopp went on about it Kya's ship. "NO! Nami's gonna be our navigator, and no one else!" Luffy said putting his authority forward.

Johnny, Yosaku and Usopp hopped into the ship. "Brother Zoro, the ships ready!" Zoro put them down by saying he had to fight Mihawk here and now. "Hey Luffy, aren't you coming?" Usopp asked. "I can't, the Baratie is in trouble." Just then, Mihawk came into full view. A couple of Krieg's men were yelling. "DON KRIEG! IT'S HIM! THE DEVIL WHO SANK OUR SHIPS! HE FOLLOWED US ALL THE WAY HERE! HE'S COME TO KILL US!" Chaos was going all around, and the only calm ones were the grandline veterans.

"YOU MONSTER! Why must you keep picking on us!?" One of Kriegs men shouted out to Mihawk who was really close by on his small coffin boat. The man was gonna respond, but he sensed a familiar presence. He looked over to the Baratie. "Well, I never would have expected to see you here… Kazumi." Kazumi gave him a friendly smile. "I didn't think you'd ever get so bored that you'd need to chase a worthless pirate crew into the East Blue." Mihawk turned to the man who yelled at him earlier. "To answer your question, I simply do it for fun." The man got angry and pulled out his pistols, sending two shots at him. "FOR FUN!?"

Mihawk unsheathed his black blade and deflected the two shots with masterful precision. "YOU MISSED!?" A couple yelled out. Zoro somehow got behind them. "No. Shooting at him is useless. He deflected the bullets with his sword. I've never seen such subtle sword work." Kazumi got a gut wrenching feeling. "Without subtlety, a sword is but an iron bar." Zoro exhaled. "You split this galleon with that sword?" Mihawk noded. "I see. Then you're the greatest! I went out to sea to find you!" Mihawk raised an eyebrow. "Why?" He asked. Zoro put his bandana on. "To be the greatest! Looking for some fun? Then fight me." Zoro said pointing his white katana at him. A few people were shocked and talking about the pirate hunter.

Mihawk jumped of his boat onto the piece of floating ship Zoro was on. "If you're a competent swordsmen, you don't need to cross blades to know that I far surpass your skills. Does the courage to point your blade at me come from confidence, or from ignorance." MIhawk finished, crossing his arms. Zoro put his white katana in his mouth, and unsheathed his other two. "It comes from ambition, and from a promise to an old friend." Mihawk took his cross necklace off and took off the sheath on the little knife. "What's that for?" Zoro asked. "I'm not the kind of fool to hunt rabbits with a canon. You may have a reputation, but you're still just a bunny. I'm sorry I don't have anything smaller."

Zoro got angry. "Better take it easy with the bravado. It'll make you feel stupid when you're killed." He said running towards Mihawk. Mihawk pointed out the small knife right before Zoro hit him. All three of Zoro's swords were blocked. Zoro backed away and went back in for more cuts. Each slice, Mihawk blocked with ease, and mocked Zoro. Johnny and Yosaku tried to interfere, but Luffy pushed them down. "CONTROL YOURSELVES!" Before long, Zoro pulled out another technique, but was stopped by Mihawk who shoved the knife into his heart. After a minute of staying still with the knife in his heart, Mihawk spoke. "Do you want your guts cut out? Why don't you retreat?"

Zoro smirked. "I… can't… If I retreat even one step… my vow… my ambition… everything I care about… will be shattered, and all my dreams will be lost forever." He said in a raspy voice, with blood coming out of his mouth. "Yes… that's defeat." Mihawk said with a blank face. "Heh… so I can't retreat." Zoro responded. "Even if it means death?" Mihawk asked. "I prefer death to defeat." Zoro said with a smile. Mihawk pulled the knife out of Zoro. "Boy… state your name." Zoro took a new stance with his swords. "RORONOA ZORO!" He spoke out with pride. "I'll remember it. It's been a while since I met someone so brave. As a swordsman, I will honour you by defeating you with the world's strongest black blade." Mihawk ran towards Zoro with great force. "Die." he said with valor. " THREE SWORD STYLE! THREE THOUSAND WORLDS!" Zoro yelled out as he followed through on his attack.

A couple seconds later, Zoro's two swords broke, leaving just the white one left in tact. He sheathed it and stood up, looked back to Mihawk who was about to attack, and held his arms out. Mihawk was caught off guard. "What are you doing?" he asked. Zoro smirked proudly. "Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame." Mihawk smirked. "Magnificent!" Mihawk followed through on his slash, cutting Zoro very deep from his left shoulder, down to his right hip. Luffy, Johnny and Yosaku screamed out his name. Johnny and Yosaku jumped into the water to go save Zoro, while Luffy threw his arm across to the ship, grabbing hold of a piece of wood. Everyone around were all wide eyed at Luffy's arm stretching, but Kazumi was concerned. He quickly jumped up and as Luffy was nearing Mihawk ready to punch him, Kazumi punched Luffy on the head, knocking him into the wood. "LUFFY NO!" Kazumi yelled at Luffy who was glaring up at Kazumi.

Mihawk looked to the brothers with an intrigued look. "Don't worry young one, I left him alive." He pointed to Johnny and Yosaku pulling him out of the water. "ZORO!" Luffy screamed. "My name is Dracule Mihawk! It's to soon for you to die. Discover yourself. See the world, and grown strong Zoro! However long it may take, I shall await you at the top. Strive with your whole heart and mind to best this blade fierce one… STRIVE TO PASS ME, RORONOA ZORO!" He then turned to Kazumi. "It's been a while Blood Angel, how have you been since our duel?" Kazumi smiled. "Been great, I met up with my brother here, and we've beaten a couple of big name pirates here in the East, but we were kind of in the middle of a fight before you got here." Mihawk smirked. "You mean everyone else was. I know your strength first hand, if you wanted to, these scrubs would be dismembered in an instant." Kazumi looked to Luffy. "Yeah, but my captain wanted to take this guy on himself." Mihawk laughed. "So this is the infamous Luffy I've heard so much about from you and that irritating red hair."

Mihawk looked to Luffy himself. "What's your goal?" Luffy replied with a determined look. "To become the king of the pirates." "You tread a perilous path. Even more perilous than surpassing me." Luffy stuck his tongue out. "I don't care, it's what I'm gonna be." Kazumi sighed. "I told you he was like this Mihawk, I don't know why everyone wants to meet him." Mihawk snicked. Luffy looked over to the boat with Zoro on it. "USOPP, IS ZORO OK?!" Usopp was wrapping up Zoro's wound. "NO, HE'S NO OK! BUT HE'S ALIVE!" Zoro then put up his sword so that Luffy could see it and started to speak in a really raspy voice. "Lu-luffy. Can you… hear me?" Luffy responded. "Were you worried? If I fail… to become the world's greatest swordsman… you'll be disappointed right?" There was a pause. Zoro started to yell back with tears flowing freely down his face. "NEVER AGAIN! I WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN! FROM NOW UNTIL THE DAY I BEAT HIM TO BECOME THE GREATEST SWORDSMAN… I WILL NEVER… LOSE AGAIN!" There was another short pause. "Got a problem with that… king of the pirates?" He finished flopping his sword down.

Luffy smiled. "Not at all." Mihawk smirked again. "They make a good team." Mihawk said to Kazumi. "I feel like I'm being replaced." He said giggling. "I wouldn't mind a duel next time we meet, see how far you've come in half a decade." Kazumi nodded. "I hope to encounter you again some day as well." He said to Luffy. As he was walking away, Krieg called out to him. "Hey Hawkeye! Didn't you come here for my head? For the head of Don Krieg, king of the eastern seas?" Mihawk was gonna play his games, but Kazumi interrupted. "I'm sorry, no one as weak as you has any right to talk without being spoken too. Go on Mihawk, I'll take care of this clown." he said. Mihawk nodded and went on his way.

Krieg was offended and pulled out all his artillery, starting to shot it at Kazumi who just dodged all the bullets with grace. "Luffy, if you wanna be the one to take this guy down you're gonna have to do it now before I cut him in half." He said in a bored tone. "In fact, let me help you." He unsheathed his knife and precisely cut off Krieg's wootz steel armour. Luffy had just finished yelling at Usopp to take Zoro and follow Nami. Usopp yelled back. "You get that cook to join us… then we hit the grandline!" Luffy smiled then looked back to Krieg who had retreated back a bit.

Kazumi returned to the ship to watch what Luffy was gonna do. "You guys can sit back and relax now, Luffy's gonna kick that guys ass to the moon, and here, let me take care of all the fodder." Kazumi released a strong wave of conquerors haki, knocking out everyone of Krieg's pirates except for the big man himself and Gin. Everyone went wide eyed again. "Well I'll be. You're just full of surprises aren't you young lad. You've got the conquerors spirit don't you?" Zeff said with a smirk. "Yeah, well, one in a million isn't that hard to find on the grandline." Kazumi replied with his own smirk.

For the next few minutes, they all watched Krieg pull out everyone trick he had while Luffy was taking minimal damage. "I told you." Kazumi said to everyone. "So Gin, you gonna fight back as well? Or are you gonna leave the crew of the man who doesn't respect his crew?" He said directly to the shocked Gin. "I-I, don't know." He said trying to say anything. "I like you, but if you try anything I'm going to stop you." Kazumi threatened.

It didn't take much longer, but Krieg was now on the ground bloody and broken by Luffy's hands. Luffy pulled a couple large bullets out of his arm and threw them to the ground. "That kid is something." Patty said with a shocked face. " I hope you watched him closely Sanji. Once in a long while, a fool comes along who, having set his sights on something won't quit fighting till he dies." Kazumi plopped down cross legged beside them. "That's the reason I follow him instead of him following me. I don't have big dreams like him or Zoro, but I can accomplish my dreams following him and his dream. My brother has a knack for making everyone love or admire him some way or another." Sanji was looking to Luffy in awe.

The Baratie took some damage, but not enough to where they couldn't repair it in a few days. Luffy jumped back to the ship and fell asleep on the deck. Kazumi just sighed and brought him inside. "You know Sanji, if that ragtag crew of Krieg's was military might, and his fancy weapons are military might, then that kids grit is military might as well. But I know a fool who's chewing a spear of his own… for no good reason." Zeff said while heading into the kitchen. "I can see the love you hold for this place Sanji, but even if you leave with us, it'll still be here." Kazumi said to Sanji.

Krieg somehow regained consciousness and was screaming outside. Gin punched him in the gut and slouched him over his shoulder. "Don Krieg… we lost. Let's take our defeat like men… and start again from zero." Gin looked to Sanji who was in the doorway. "Thank you for your kindness Sanji." Sanji replied calmly. "Sure… don't come back." Gin smirked. "Sanji… when that kid wakes up, tell him something for me… Tell him that I hope our paths cross again… on the grandline." Sanji looked to Gin with confusion. You… you're still a pirate?" Gin smiled. "I gave it a lot of thought, and pirating is the only thing I want to do. When you really commit yourself, you don't really worry about your enemy or even about your own life, that's what that kid taught me." Sanji smiled back. "Patty, Carne, give these guys the supply ship." Patty and Carne started to freak out. Sanji yelled at them to just get the boat, and they did reluctantly.

Zeff let Kazumi put Luffy in one of the empty beds they had until he was up and better. Kazumi and Sanji hung around in the room for a couple hours while Luffy slept off his wounds. Luffy woke up in a panic and satright up. "MY HAT!" Kazumi look to Luffy and pointed right beside him. "It's right there Luffy." Luffy giggled and put it on. "Well, now that you're awake. He hopes to see you on the grandline. That's what Gin said." Luffy crossed his legs on the side of the bed. "He hopes to see you there?" Kazumi just sighed while Sanji yelled at Luffy.

Sanji then calmly explained what he meant and Luffy got excited. "So will you…?" Sanji sighed. "I won't be joining your crew. I'm staying here as a cook, until that shitty geezer acknowledges my skills, and after all that's happened, there's even more reason not to go. None of these slobs can be counted on. But some day… some day I'll go to the grandline." Luffy got excited again. "Then come with us now!" Kazumi flicked him the back of the head. "Luffy, he just said he can't go now." Sanji took a drag. "Now's not the time." There was a short pause, and Sanji smiled widely. "Ever hear… of the All Blue?!" Luffy tilted his head in confusion. "No." Kazumi put his hand on his chin in thought. "Isn't that the place where all the fish from all the Blue's gather in one place?" Sanji brightened up even more. "Exactly!"

Sanji went on talking about his dream of discovering the All Blue for the hour, but the time came when lunch came. They walked down the stairs and opened the door to the kitchen dining area. "Hey, where are our chairs?" Sanji asked noticing that all the seats were taken. "And our food." Luffy said stating his priorities. "No chairs for you guys." One of the chefs responded with a mouthful of food. "Sit on the floor!" Another said while chuckling. Sanji got a slightly annoyed look on his face. "No chairs? But this is a restaurant." They got their food and sat off to the side. "Aw well." Sanji said not wanting to cause a fight. "Can't blame them to much, a few chairs were broken in the dining hall, probably just used a few from here to replace the ones on there." Kazumi said trying to reason with Sanji. "Yeah, that makes sense. Guess I'm gonna have to go shopping for more then." Sanji replied before taking a bite of rice.

A couple minutes passed and Kazumi stood up. "I'm gonna step outside for a bit, don't wait up." He said before walking out the door. He took a deep breath and jumped up to the deck above the walkway. He sat down on the railing and took out to sea with a smile. A few minutes later, Sanji burst out of the door and slammed it shut. He then sat down next to the door. Kazumi jumped down and sat down as well. "What's all that about?" He asked. "Just a bunch of Apes with no sense of taste." Sanji said with a scoff. Kazumi chuckled. "You're a fun guy Sanji, I'm sort of sad you won't be joining us." Sanji smiled very slightly. Before he could respond, they heard the people inside talking. "But if we don't do something like this, he won't listen!" Zeff said. "Hey kid… That baby eggplant… will you take him with you? The grandline… is his dream."

As Zeff finished, Sanji got a tear in his eye. The other chef's started to ask for more soup. "I can hear you… you jerks." Sanji said in a shaky voice. Kazumi smiled again. They heard Luffy start talking now. "Take Sanji… with me? No way." The chef's were startled. "WHAT!?" Zeff raised an eyebrow. "Why not, boy? Don't you need a cook for your ship? Isn't he good enough for you?" Luffy responded with food in his mouth. "Of course he's good enough, and I'd love to have him, but he says he wants to stay here. You can't decide for him, he has to do it." Kazumi chuckled. "That's rich coming from him." Zeff replied again. "Well, fair enough, but who knows whether that crazy kid will agree to it. I don't think he will, he's stubborn."

Kazumi just sat in silence with Sanji, until they heard something in the water. It was getting closer and closer, until it burst out of the water and crashed into the side of the Baratie and into the kitchen dining area. Kazumi and Sanji walked through the hole to see Yosaku in the mouth of a panda shark. Yosaku weakly lifted his hand to Luffy who was kelt down next to him. "Unh… B-brother Luffy!" Luffy replied. "Why are you alone? Where are the others? And Nami?" Kazumi flicked him in the back of the head. "Help him out of the fish first." he replied with an annoyed tone.

After they got Yosaku out of the panda shark and wrapped him in a towel, he answered Luffy's question. "We didn't catch her, but by the wake of sister Nami's hip, we were able to roughly guess her course." Luffy smiled. "You were? So, where can we go get her?" Yosaku got a series look on his face. "That's just it, the way she's headed, if our calculations are correct, she's headed for an unbelievable place. I'll tell you the details later! Anyway, we need your strength brother Luffy!" Luffy returned the series look. "Okay! I don't get it. No, I do get it! Let's go!" Kazumi sighed again. "I'll go. Take me with you. I might as well sail with you on your quest to become king of the pirates. We both have foolish dreams… so I'll chase mine too. You've got yourself a cook." Sanji said while leaned up against the wall.

There was a moment of silence. "Okay? Not okay?" Sanji asked. "OKAY! HOORAY!" Luffy yelled out loud. Yosaku joined him in a celebration dance. Sanji just looked dumbfounded. "You'll get used to it, trust me." Kazumi said with a sympathetic look to Sanji. Kazumi walked over to get Luffy to calm down. Over the next hour, the Baratie chef's helped Luffy and Kazumi pack rations onto Sanji's shopping ship. After they loaded everything on, they waited for Sanji to finish his own packing. "Oh there he is." Yosaku said when they say Sanji in the doorway. While Sanji was walking towards the boat, Patty and Carne jumped behind him, ready to attack him with with giant spoons.

"WE'VE BEEN SAVING THIS UP FOR YEARS! SAY YOUR PRAYERS SANJI!" The two screamed out while swinging the spoons. Sanji just casually kicked them into the deck. "They never stood a chance." One chef said while kneeling down to check them out. Sanji made his way to the boat. "Let's go." he said. "Aren't you gonna say goodbye?" Luffy asked. "It's ok."Sanji replied. "You sure?" Kazumi asked to make sure.

Before Sanji could reply, Zeff spoke out from the top deck. "Hey Sanji. Keep your feet dry." There was a short silence while Sanji's eyes started to drip tears. "CHEF ZEFF!" He yelled out as he swung around and bowed down. "ALL THESE YEARS...I LIVED UNDER YOUR CRAP-ROOF! I OWE YOU MY LIFE! I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU!" Zeff started to tear up, while Patty and Carne started wailing." YOU SHIT-HEAD! I'M GONNA MISS YOU GOSH DARNIT!" "I'LL MISS YOU TOO!" Patty and Carne screamed out. "WE'RE ALL GONNA MISS YOU!" The other chef's also screamed out. Sanji smiled while tears continued to fall down his face. "GOODBYE YOU CRAP GUYS!"

Sanji got into the boat while Kazumi pulled the anchor up into the boat. "LET'S SET SAIL!" Luffy screamed out with his hands in the air.

 **A/N: Sup. Been a month again, although this time it's because of Christmas, New Years, another funeral I had to go to, and final exams, but at least it's done now. Some parts may seem off since I kinda rushed to get this done before the 20th. I tried to fit the entire Baratie arc into this chapter so that might also be why it feels a little off.**


	8. Liberation

A Journey of Kings

Chapter 7

(Chapters 69-97)

 **A/N: Alright, Science project done, and I'm FINALLY starting this on March 28th.**

The three of them had been sailing for a while, and Yosaku wouldn't stop balling his eyes out. "How much longer are you gonna keep on blubbering? Cheer up, everything alright." Kazumi said to Yosaku while steering the boat. "Bud id was all so booving! Uch beautiful leab-taking, brubber cook!"

"I for one can't wait to get Nami back and head for the grandline!." Luffy said while stretching his arms out on the nose of the ship. "Look, even if you get Nami back, there are still only five of us. Do you honestly plan to conquer the grandline with just 5 people?" Sanji asked while smoking yet another cigarette. "Look Sanji, Luffy doesn't care about logic, he just wants to do what he wants to do, you're gonna have to deal with it. If he says 5 is enough, then it's enough." Kazumi said bluntly.

Sanji just scoffed. "YOU'RE TAKING THIS TOO LIGHTLY BROTHERS! You know what the grandline is like?!" Kazumi just nodded. "Yes, yes I do actually." Yosaku thought for a second. "Well do you two even know what the grandline is like?" He said pointing to Luffy and Sanji. They both shook their heads. "Well, Sister Nami is on a collision course with one dangerous guy! You two need to understand what you're sailing into. There's a reason it's called the pirates graveyard, and that's cause of the three great powers." Kazumi interrupted him. "Four great powers Yosaku. The marines, the emperors, the warlord, and the revolutionaries." Yosaku just nodded.

"Thank you brother Kazumi. Anyway, the seven warlords of the seas." Luffy interrupted this time. "And who're they?" Kazumi spoke up again. "They're basically pirates hired by the world government and given legal authority to be pirates, at the price of doing what the marines say, and giving something like 30% of the treasure they get. It's why most people say they're dogs for the world government." Yosaku nodded. "Yup. Remember Hawkeye Mihawk? The one who defeated brother Zoro. He's one of those seven."

Yosaku took a breather. "The problem is one of the seven. Jinbe, the leader of the fishman pirates." Luffy put on a dead face. "Fishman pirates? Never met em." Kazumi smiled. "Ah, Jinbe, good guy, I miss him." Yosaku's jaw dropped. "YOU KNOW JINBE BROTHER KAZUMI!?" Kazumi noded with a smile. "Yeah, I first met him after his fight with our other brother Ace. He's pretty stern, but he's a good guy." Yosaku collected his composure. "Well anyway, right now were headed for Arlong park! Arlong's a fishman. He used to be Jinbe's equal." Kazumi snickered. "What is it now brother?" Yosaku asked genuinely confused. Kazumi calmed down. "Jinbe's the strongest fishman, and Arlong's just a fishman in the east blue, Jinbe could curb stomp Arlong all the way back to fishman island."

Sanji blushed a little. "Fishman island huh? I've heard there are beautiful mermaids there." Kazumi smiled at Sanji. "Oh there are. There's even a mermaid cafe run by a mermaid shark prophet." Sanji got heart eyes just thinking about it. "HAVE YOU GUYS EVEN HEAR A WORD OF WHAT I'VE SAID!?" Yosaku screamed at the three. "Sure. There's a mean fish guy, right? Got it." Luffy said while scratching his head. "NO, YOU DON'T GET IT! HIS STRENGTH IS UNIMAGINABLE!" Yosaku screamed at Luffy. "If he's just an average fishman, Luffy could take him easily. Ain't that right captain?" Luffy just nodded.

"Alright, let's have some lunch shall we? What do you all want?" Sanji said while taking his coat off. "MEAT! ON A BONE!" Luffy said triumphantly. "STIR-FRIED BEAN SPROUTS FOR ME!" Yosaku cheerfully exclaimed. "Chicken quesadillas if you can please." Kazumi said calmly. When Sanji was finished cooking, they ate and discussed plans for attack.

Just as they were finishing eating, a large sea cow burst out of the ocean. "Oh wow, what's a sea cow doing in the east blue?" Kazumi asked while looking up at the towering creature "Look at all that meat!" Luffy said with a wide jaw. "Luffy, no, just no." Sanji said with a hand on his forehead. The sea cow moved closer and started to sniff the leftovers. "Oh, you're hungry? Here." Kazumi said as he tossed anything left on the plates to the cow. Kazumi moved closer and pet it. "Young sea cows are not naturally aggressive, you just need a gentle touch." Yosaku and Luffy were mesmerized. "Hey buddy, we're heading towards an island in that direction, would you mind helping us?" He said pointing in the general direction Yosaku had told them. The sea cow cooed and nodded.

After a few minutes, Kazumi had tied a couple ropes to the sea cows horns, and wrapped the other side around the boat. He pet the cow one more time before jumping back to the boat. "Onwards Kristof!" Kazumi said with a finger out. "Kristof?" Sanji asked confused. "Yeah, I decided to give him a name, and Kristof was the first to come to mind, so I named him Kristof." Kazumi replied with a smile. Luffy was looking at the cow with a watery mouth. "Luffy no, he's a friend, not food." Kazumi said flicking his brother in the back of the head.

About a half hour later, they could see Arlong park. The problem was, they were heading to the right of it and at a high speed. "Kristof slow down, it's more to the left!" Kazumi yelled out to the sea cow, but he was not heard, and Kristof crashed into the island. The boat went flying, and soared for a few seconds before crashing into the ground in a forest. But the boat kept going, sliding into a pathway and crashing into one, Roronoa Zoro. The boat ended up hitting a rock and shattering. The four on the boat got up and brushed the dirt off of themselves while Zoro was headfirst in a pile of rubble.

"Well that was crazy." Luffy noted. "I hope Kristof is okay, that looked pretty bad." Kazumi responded. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS DOING!?" Zoro screamed after getting out of the rubble. Zoro's eyes widened and he got up ready to run away. "I forgot! Usopp's in danger, Arlong has him, we need to get going!" Before anyone could move, Johnny came out of the brush. "USOPP'S DEAD! You're too late… BROTHER USOPP HAS BEEN KILLED! BY SISTER NAMI!" A look of shock came over the 5.

Luffy walked over and punched Johnny in the stomach. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" Kazumi pulled Luffy away from Johnny. "Stop it, he hasn't done anything." Luffy looked to his brother. "BUT HE'S SPEWING CRAZY!" He glared at Johnny. "THERE'S NO WAY NAMI WOULD KILL USOPP! SHE'S OUR SHIPMATE!" Johnny held back some tears. "If you don't want to believe me, then fine, but I saw it with my own two eyes!"

Before anymore words could be shared, Nami was a few feet away from them. "Who's your shipmate Luffy? Why did you come here?" Luffy regained his composure. "Whaddya mean? You're our shipmate, we came to get you so we can go to the grandline." Nami rolled her eyes. "What a nuisance. Shipmate? Don't make me laugh. You're a bunch of pathetic misfits." Kazumi shrugged. "I mean, she's not wrong." Sanji started to try and get Nami's attention. Zoro got ticked off and started to yell at him. Kazumi just looked to them and tilted his head. "Why are you two arguing like that? You sound like a bickering old married couple." Both their eyes widened before they shut their mouth.

Kazumi stepped forward. "So, Nami, what's with this facade? Where's the girl who hates pirates? You're being blackmailed aren't you?" Nami was slightly taken aback, but barely showed it. "Brother Kazumi, she killed brother Usopp, she was obviously faking it!" Kazumi put a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "Johnny, I can read body language, I know she wasn't faking it, but right now, she's faking her feelings towards us, she's tense and defensive unlike her calm and relaxed demeanor of before."

Nami was getting slightly nervous, but sighed as to not show. "Right now, Arlong is out to kill Roronoa Zoro and his crew, since Zoro had to go around and do something stupid. You may have monstrous powers, but you're no match for a real monster." Zoro brushed this aside. "Not a problem, where's Usopp?" Nami grinned. "Usopp's feeding the fishes." Zoro was about to threaten Nami, but Kazumi put a hand on his shoulder. "Nami, go do what you need to do, we'll be waiting around somewhere for when you're done."

"We don't like outsiders sticking their noses in our business. Take your boat back, find yourselves a navigator, and go look for your stupid one piece! NOW GET LOST! I'M SICK OF THE SIGHT OF YOU!" A couple seconds passed with a dead silence, before Luffy and Kazumi fell over onto their backs. "BROTHER LUFFY! BROTHER KAZUMI!" Johnny yelled out. "Goodnight." The brother's said in Unison. "NOW!? In the middle of the road?!"

"Well, we don't want to leave this island." Kazumi said. "And those fish-heads don't scare us." Luffy replied. "Plus, we're getting a little tired." Kazumi continued. "So we're gonna take a nap." Luffy finished. The crew's sweat dropped while Nami got a look of anger on her face. "SUIT YOURSELF, IT'S YOUR FUNERAL!" she screamed out before storming off. The brothers just ignored her and fell asleep

About a half hour later Sanji sighed while letting the smoke from his cigarette blow out of his lungs. "Hey." Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" Sanji took another drag. "Could Nami have really killed Usopp?" Kazumi sat up. "Nope." Zoro turned his head to the eldest brother. "How do you know?" Kazumi smiled. "I told you. I can read body language, and she was trying very hard to lie." The two gave looks of understanding. "Aaaand, Usopp's kinda running towards us at the moment." He said with a smile

"HEY! GUYS! GREAT, YOU HAVEN'T GONE TO ARLONG PARK YET!" He said yelling out to them. When he got there he was out of breath. "Oh Luffy and Kazumi you came!" Usopp then explained what had happened. After that, a blue haired woman stepped out of the brush. "It's no use, you'll never defeat Arlong." "Who's that?" Luffy said standing up. "That's Nami's older sister." Usopp responded. Sanji went on a lustful rant with heart eyes.

"No use, why's that?" Zoro asked. " I'm asking you to leave and forget you were ever here. I'll explain everything, but you must leave this island." Luffy just stared at her for a second. "I don't care. I'm not interested in her past. I'm going for a walk." He finished before pivoting on his heel and walking the opposite way.

"WHAT!? You really don't wanna hear this?" Usopp asked quite surprised. "Nope. I'll pass." He finished, continuing to walk. "Honestly, I feel the same way. While I'm at least a little interested, even if you are her sister, to me, it'll feel like I'm invading her privacy. If she wishes to tell me, then I'll listen, if not, I'll pass." He finished before walking off in the same direction as his brother.

They walked for a bit before reaching a town. They saw a man in red, leading a group of marines somewhere. Kazumi tried to make himself look scarce. Luffy on the other hand, stood out like a sore thumb. "How come that guy has a pinwheel on his head!?" Kazumi quickly pulled his brother into an alleyway. "Luffy, you've taken on the marines twice, you have to avoid them now." Luffy didn't care what his brother was saying, and continued to watch the man until he disappeared.

When the marines were out of sight, Kazumi let Luffy wander again. Luffy looked around for the man again, but ultimately decided to relax against a tree. Kazumi stood near Luffy and relaxed a bit as well. A while later, there was a lot of commotion across the street. "We heard gunshots!" they heard someone ask loudly. Luffy and Kazumi got up to investigate.

As they walked over, Kazumi could see someone bleeding on the ground. "Nami? What's going on? Can I help?" Luffy asked with a smile. "Luffy, not the time." Kazumi said. Nami glared up at him. "You're still here!?" She said enraged. She grabbed Luffy by his shirt. "I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU! NOW GET OFF THIS ISLAND!" She said before pushing him on his back and running off.

Kazumi just stood there and watched everything unfold. When his brother got up, he sat down on a ledge. "Well, looks like she's going through some tough things right now, it might be best to leave her to her own devices for a bit." Kazumi suggested as Luffy sat against a tree. "Yeah, but what's her problem with us?" Kazumi sighed. "I don't know Luffy, but she obviously wants to take care of it herself."

Around 10 minutes later, they heard a big ruckus on another street and went to see what the next problem was. By the time they got there, all they could see, was a distraught Nami plunging a dagger into her shoulder screaming Arlong. Luffy walked over to her and grabbed her hand.

She looked to him with tears in her eyes. "Luffy? What are you doing!? You don't know anything!" She yelled at him. "You're right, we don't know anything." Kazumi replied. "This has nothing to do with you! I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE THIS ISLAND!" She screamed back. "Yeah, you told us." Luffy said standing still. Nami continued to cry for a minute. Then looked back. "Luffy… Help." She begged.

Luffy took his hat off and put it on Nami's head. He started to walk away and then inhaled deep. "OKAY!" He screamed out before continuing on. Kazumi followed Luffy and they met up with Zoro, Sanji and Usopp. "Let's do this." Luffy said. Kazumi and the others smirked. "Right!" They said in unison.

As they walked to Arlong park, they saw a group of villagers talking to a bloody Johnny and Yosaku. The villagers parted the way as they walked to the door. Luffy cocked his fist, and punched the door down. "Which one of you, is Arlong?" He asked calmly. Arlong turned to the group with anger in his eyes. "Who're you?"

Luffy started to walk forward and asked again. "Which one of you is Arlong?" Arlong calmed down very slightly. "That would be me." Luffy took a stance. "I'm Luffy." Arlong's face changed from rage to irritation. "Is that so? And what's a Luffy?" Luffy started to walk forward yet again. "A pirate." He responded.

"Where do you think you're going? Stop right there. You gotta tell us your story first." A couple members of Arlong's crew said trying to block Luffy's path. But before they could do anything more, Luffy took their heads and smashed them together. Every one Arlong's crew got a look of pure shock, while Arlong's face turned back to anger.

"What business do you have with me, pirate?" Luffy didn't say anything, and just punched Arlong. The saw-shark Fishman went flying into the wall on the other side of Arlong park. All his crew members yelled out to him. Arlong recovered quickly and glared at Luffy. "Do you realize what you jus-" Arlong tried to say before being cut off by Luffy.

"You made our navigator cry!" He said with his own look of anger on his face. Arlong crew decided to attack Luffy, but were stopped when Kazumi let out a small burst of conquerors haki to knock the weaklings out. Sanji and Zoro were a little ticked off that he didn't save any for them, while Usopp sighed in relief. The four walked through the door this time and saw 3 stronger fishman that didn't get knocked out.

While Zoro and Sanji were pumped, Usopp was scared but not showing it. Kazumi on the other hand look to them in confusion. "Hachi? What're you doing out in the East Blue?" Hatchan's eyes widened. "You know him?" The Ray Fishman next to him asked. Hatchan stuttered slightly. "N-no, not at a-all." He said trying to lie.

Kazumi rolled his eyes. "Hachi, leave, I don't want to get my ass kicked by Shakky for hurting you." Hatchan looked to Arlong, then back to the group. He whispered sorry before using his mouth like a horn. The ground started to shake slightly. "What's that?" Sanji asked. Something started to break the surface tension on the water, rising out of the pool.

When the water all fell off, and the beast was fully exposed, Kazumi got a huge smile on his face. "KRISTOFF! YOU'RE OKAY!" He yelled out so the sea cow could hear him. Kristoff swam closer to the edge of the pool as Kazumi walked over to him. "You crashed quite hard back then, you seem fine, other than that bump on your head." He said while petting the cow on his head.

Arlong glared over to them while his officers were just shocked. "Momoo, what do you think you're doing?" Kristoff got a look of pure fear. Kazumi raised an eyebrow. "Oh I see what's happening. Don't you worry Kristoff, go off, find your own path, We'll take care of this monster so he won't ever scare you ever again." He finished with a small pat on the cow's head.

Kristoff went off into the water. "Any of you think of hurting Kristoff, or even following him, and I kick your ass to the New World, then Jinbe can deal with you." Luffy pointed to Arlong. "And I'm done with this stalling, I didn't come here to talk, I came her to clobber you, Arlong!" Arlong got a grin on his face. "Well that works out for me, I was just thinking about doing the same to you."

Kazumi turned to the other 3. "Don't touch the octopus, and I mean it." They nodded. "Usopp, stick back and provide sniping support." Usopp nodded and walked back towards the door. Sanji and Zoro approached the officers. Sanji taking on Kuroobi, and Zoro taking on Chew. They started their respective fights. Kazumi slowly approached Hatchan.

"You've put me in an unfortunate position Hachi, how are we gonna resolve this? Classic arm wrestle like old times?" Hatchan was a little scared Kazumi was going to attack, but when he saw the innocent smile Kazumi gave off, he put on his facade face to fool Arlong. "You think a mere human could beat a 6 armed fishman in an arm wrestle? HAH! Be prepared to be destroyed human." Kazumi smiled again. He knew what Hatchan was doing, and went along with it.

In the background, Kazumi could hear the fighting, with the occasional small explosion from Usopp. He held Hatchan off for as long as it took for Zoro and Sanji to beat their opponents before easily winning. It was then down to Luffy vs Arlong. They'd moved their fight into the building, with Arlong using his shark tooth zanbato to swipe at Luffy.

The action stopped for about a minute, and everyone was waiting to see who would emerge victorious, but then, the commotion started again. A desk flew out the opening in the wall on a higher floor. Then a bookshelf came flying out of another wall, creating another hole in the building. More furniture came flying out of the building. Maps were flying down across Arlong park.

Kazumi looked to Nami, and he realized right then and there, than whatever was going on up there, it involved Nami, and why she'd been blackmailed. Just as he was about to try and comfort Nami, everyone saw a foot come flying through the top of the building. Kazumi knew what was going on, and he smirked widely.

The foot flew back into the building at a great speed, and in an instant, Arlong park was destroyed. Nami and the rest screamed out for Luffy. As everyone was waiting to see who won, they heard some rustling in the debris. Luffy was standing on top of the destroyed building, beaten and bloody. Everyone sighed of relief, as the crew called out to him. "NAMI!" Luffy screamed out. "YOU'RE ONE OF US NOW!"

Nami started to cry tears of joy. "Yeah." She said through the tears. Luffy gave a genuine smile to her as everyone else cheered and celebrated. But before any real partying could be done, a familiar face showed up. "HOLD EVERYTHING!" The mouse looking marine yelled out. "It's my lucky day. I saw the whole thing. Well done. It could've been a fluke, but somehow you two-bit pirates defeated the fishmen."

The captain went on about how all the berries were his, but Kazumi couldn't care less. "That money belongs to this town, you have no right to it." He said while glaring at Nezumi. "Huh, what's that son?" Kazumi walked towards him. "I said, you're not taking one. Single. Berri." Nezumi chuckled. "And what'll happen if I do?" He spouted sarcastically.

Kazumi moved his head to be right in front of Nazumi's. "I'll send your head back to your superiors in a box." Kazumi said in a threatening voice. Nezumi felt a little nervous. "You better not mess with me. I'll make you regret it." He said shaking slightly. Kazumi snickered. "What could a captain like you, do to make me regret anything?"

Nezumi smirked. "I'll have a bounty placed on your head, and you'll never be able to walk through a town again." Kazumi started laughing. Nezumi and his unit all looked confused. "What're you laughing about?" a random marine asked. "He already has a bounty on his head." Nami said as she emerged from the crowd. She walked towards the group and placed Luffy's hat back on his head.

"Not possible! I would remember if a guy like this had a bounty." Nezumi spouted. Kazumi stopped laughing and pulled something out of his coat. It was a bounty poster, and when he unrolled it, everyone's jaw dropped. "Now, I'm feeling generous. Take my picture, and finally get a real face for my poster, but in return, Nami gets to beat on you, which I can tell she _really_ wants to do."

Nami walked forward and talked in a calm voice. "This is for shooting Nojiko, and ruining Belle-Mère's tangerine grove." Before Nezumi could react, Nami whacked him across the face as hard as she possibly could with her bo-staff. Kazumi clasped his hands. "Alright, I'm ready for my picture now." Kazumi said with a smile.

A shaky marine stepped up with a visual transponder snail. Right as he was about to take the picture, Kazumi gave a nice smile. The marine took the picture before retreating behind the other marines. "My name, is Atticus. D Kazumi, and just so you know, I'm not the captain of this crew, my brother is." Kazumi then pointed to Luffy. "His name is Monkey D. Luffy, and he's the man who'll become the king of the pirates."

Kazumi then got a look of anger on his face. "Now get lost, before I decide to knock some heads." He said in a deep threatening voice. After the marines retreated with a few threats, everyone present from the village went off to spread the news of Arlongs defeat.

The towns doctor saw Zoro's wounds and ushered him to his office. Luffy and Kazumi decided to join, while Usopp and Sanji went to explore the town more. "You numbskull! Trying to fix such and injury yourself! Is there even a doctor on your crew?" The doctor ranted on while roughly stitching Zoro up. "Well, no official doctor, but I have first aid experience. At the moment, were still looking for an actual doctor" Kazumi said while Luffy spouted about wanting a musician again.

A while later after Zoro was fixed up, and everyone had returned, a huge party started with Sanji helping cook, and Usopp telling his tall tales. Kazumi had something to eat a drink, before resigning himself to a cliff side on the ocean where he drifted off thinking of the great times to come.

When morning hit, he made his way back to the port where everyone was crowded to see Nami off. Kazumi made his way on board and started getting everything ready, while Sanji brought the supplies that survived from the Baratie on the broken boat. A few minutes later, Johnny and Yosaku approached the boat. "We're going back to being bounty hunters, but thanks for everything." Yosaku said. "We say goodbye today, but we hope to meet you guys again someday. "Johnny replied.

"Take care guys, you were a great help." Kazumi said with a smile. "Take care of brother Zoro for us, and take care yourself." They replied. "Hmm… She's not here yet." Usopp said while looking to town. "Maybe she's not coming." Zoro said. "NAMI'S NOT COMING!? WHY NOT!?" Sanji spouted. "Relax guys, maybe she's just taking her time." Kazumi said as the voice of reason while Luffy complained to Sanji about prosciutto.

A minute later, they heard a familiar voice yelling at them. "SET SAIL NOW!" Nami yelled as she started bolting as fast as she could towards the boat. "She's started running. What's up?" Usopp asked. "Well, she said to set sail, so set sail." Luffy said with a blank expression. "Aye aye captain." Kazumi said as he dropped the sails.

The boat started moving as Nami got closer and closer. "Are you sure we should let her do this?" Sanji asked a little concerned. "Well, it's her choice." Kazumi said joining him and Luffy. "She should leave the way she wants." Luffy replied. As Nami jumped, everyone in the village called out for her.

When she landed, she lifted up her shirt, and a whole load of wallets dropped out. Everyone in the village realized that she'd just stolen their money and went all shark teethed saying she tricked them. "Take care everybody." Nami said with her usual charm.

Luffy and Kazumi started to laugh, Usopp and Zoro facepalmed, and Sanji just gave her a thumbs up. As the villagers started yelling at her to give them their wallets back, Nami just smiled back. "BYE EVERYONE! I'LL BE BACK!" She said while waving her hands.

A while later, after Cocoyashi village was out of view, a news coo came to drop off the news. Nami went up to pay, but Kazumi offered. Nami sat down on a chair as Kazumi caught his brother after Sanji kicked him for trying to take a tangerine. "Luffy, ask Nami if you want one." Kazumi said putting his brother down.

"Nami, I shall guard this grove with all my love." Sanji said with a heroic stance. "Aw, thank you Sanji." Nami said. As Nami opened the newspaper, a few pieces of paper fell out. "Oh, new bounty posters." Kazumi said as he picked them up. He smiled as he saw the first one. "Trafalgar Law, is now wanted for twenty million, good for him." Nami raised a brow. "Who's Trafalgar Law?" Kazumi gave the poster to Luffy. "He's a man I met shortly before I reunited with Luffy. Great guy."

Kazumi looked down to see his brother. "Ohh, looky here. Seems my brother's a big shot now. Luffy is now wanted for fifty million, very unusual for an East Blue pirate, but granted, I got a billion on my head." the shocked faces of everyone but Luffy were amusing to Kazumi. "Next up is my updated bounty, which is surprising since I didn't do much, but it's now one billion thirteen million, and it finally has a picture." Usopp and Luffy weren't paying attention, and were talking about Luffy's poster having Usopp's head in it.

"Next up is Nami." Kazumi said before being cut off. "WHAT!? I HAVE A BOUNTY!?" She screamed in fear. "Well you were a part of Arlong's crew, theived all over the East Blue, and then assaulted a navy officer. Anyway, it's one million, and the picture is nice, it's you talking to Nojiko." Nami ripped it out of his hands and ranted about how she didn't want to be wanted, but smiled at the picture.

Kazumi looked down to the last piece of paper with a little shock. "Well then, this is surprising. Sanji, you've got a bounty." Sanji instantly perked up, not thinking he'd have a bounty. "Really? How much?" Kazumi handed Sanji his poster. "You're worth six million, and I'd assume it's for beating the shit out of fullbody." Sanji raised his curled brow. "Who?" He asked slightly confused. Kazumi chuckled. "It doesn't matter, but cool picture, it's you serving food. Not very menacing for a bounty poster, and doesn't make you look like a pirate, but it's nice regardless."

Sanji went to show Usopp who was still high on his horse, while Nami was still sulking. Kazumi approached Zoro who was a little irritated. "I'm gonna guess you didn't get a bounty since you've been a lot of help to the navy when you were a bounty hunter, but that just means when you do get a bounty, it'll be much higher." Kazumi said trying to cheer the swordsman up. Zoro smiled and took a swig of sake. "You know what, that makes sense, I'll just have to work extra hard." Kazumi nodded and returned to his brother.

A couple hours later, Nami spoke up "Everyone, there it is. If we see that island, we're approaching the grandline." Everyone went to the railing to see. "That's Loguetown, they call it 'The town of the beginning and the end', because Gold Roger was born, and executed there." Zoro said as a little exposition dump. "Want to go Luffy?" Kazumi asked patting his brother on the back. "It's were the pirate king died, so it would be rude of the next pirate king to not go see." "That's the spirit Luffy." Kazumi said with a smile.

"I'm gonna go restock on food for our journey, maybe get some new spices." Sanji said as they docked. "I can probably find some good equipment too." Usopp replied as they both headed off in different directions. "And I need money for new swords." Zoro said. "I got you" Kazumi said handing Zoro 250 thousand berries. "Get some nice swords, you deserve them after fighting Mihawk and surviving." Zoro grinned. "Thanks." He said before departing.

"Welp, this is it Luffy, let's go find that execution platform." Kazumi said as Luffy jumped off the boat. "Shishishi, yup." Luffy replied. "You good Nami? Want some company or you want to go off on your own?" Kazumi said looking up to Nami. "I'm fine Kazumi." Kazumi turned to see his brother was ahead of him, and he sprinted to catch up. "Alright, the true start of our journey is now." Luffy yelled out. Kazumi smirked. "Yes, it is."

 **A/N: I churned this out as fast as I could, so if it's not the best, that's why. I hope you don't mind me giving Luffy a higher bounty, or giving Nami and Sanji a bounty this early. By the way, what did everyone think of the borderlands 3 trailer? I personally loved seeing Maya and Rhys.**


End file.
